It finally happened. After over twenty years as the face of the WWE… John Cena just turned heel.
I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. We’ll get back to Cena later. Overall, this year’s Elimination Chamber certainly didn’t disappoint. After receiving mixed reviews for last month’s PLE (Premium Live Event), the Royal Rumble, the WWE needed a surefire win leading into Wrestlemania 41. If breaking the record for the most-watched clip over 24 hours in WWE history doesn’t prove they succeeded, I don’t know what will.
We started the night with the women’s elimination chamber match. The rules for the match are that six competitors are locked in a steel cage. Two begin in the ring, while the other four are trapped in individual pods. Every few minutes, one of the four is released into the match in random order. If they’re pinned or if they tap out, they’re eliminated. The last one standing wins the opportunity to headline Wrestlemania 41 with a chance to win one of the championship belts.
Just as the women’s chamber match began, we got the resolution to the long-standing mystery of who attacked and injured Jade Cargill months ago. Cargill stormed out to the ring just before the chamber door was shut. However, instead of attacking Liv Morgan, who everyone assumed was responsible, Cargill targeted her former friend, Naomi, as their tag-team partner, Bianca Belair, watched in a state of panic, locked in her pod, unable to do anything about it. After a long and grueling match, Belair was able to come away with the win, securing her spot at Wrestlemania 41, where she’ll face either the current RAW Women’s World Champion, Rhea Ripley, or the number one contender, Iyo Sky.
Following this was the least essential match of the night, the current SmackDown Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton and 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Trish Stratus against Nia Jax and Candace Lerae in a tag-team match. To the surprise of nobody, Stratton and Stratus won the match easily.
Next, we got the highly-anticipated “unsanctioned match” between long-time frienemies Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. The idea of an unsanctioned match is that the WWE is unaffiliated with and not legally responsible for the results of the match. No rules. Anything goes. The match was as brutal as everyone expected, as both men were put through tables, hit with chairs, and even attacked with barbed wire. At the end of the day, Owens was able to pull out a win by the skin of his teeth. However, after the match ended, Owens went back to do more damage, ready to hit Zayn with an illegal move known as a piledriver, designed to target the neck of the opponent. Just as he was about to injure Zayn, the entrance music came on for all-time legend Randy Orton, and the arena erupted with excitement. Orton had been injured months prior by Owens using the same illegal move, so his return was truly a triumphant moment, running in to hit Owens with his finisher, the RKO. Then, to the delight of the fans, Orton lined up to deliver a punt to the head, as he was known to in the earlier days of his career before he was stopped and pulled away by security.
This led to the men’s elimination chamber match. After the elimination of half of the competitors, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, and John Cena were left standing. For a moment, Punk and Cena formed an alliance, uniting to eliminate Rollins. However, before leaving the chamber, Rollins got revenge on his bitter enemy, curb-stomping CM Punk’s face into the ground. This opened up a perfect opportunity for Cena to lock in his iconic STF submission maneuver, causing Punk to pass out. Just like that, Cena won his fourth elimination chamber in his historic career, as well as a trip to face Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania 41 for the Undisputed WWE Championship.
All of this led to the final segment of the night, which requires a bit of context. First of all, let’s define our terms. In pro wrestling, characters are often categorized as “faces,” who are more or less the heroes of the story, and “heels,” who are the villains. Many characters stay in one of those lanes for the majority of their careers. However, some characters have been known to switch between them, like Kevin Owens, who’s been riding the line since he debuted. Now that we’ve got the correct terminology established, let’s dive in. Semi-recently, legendary wrestler The Rock took a position as one of the higher-ups in the WWE, taking on the moniker “The Final Boss.” The current Undisputed WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes, caught the attention of The Rock, as a couple of weeks ago, he approached Rhodes with an unsettling proposition. He told Rhodes he could make every dream that he and his family have ever had come true and make sure that he retains his title… all in exchange for his soul. Yes, you heard me right. The Rock proposed a Faustian bargain with Cody Rhodes, playing the role of Mephisto or the Devil himself. We’ve officially stepped into uncharted territory.
Coming back to the Elimination Chamber, the main event was scheduled to be Rhodes telling The Rock his decision. After his win, Cena remained in the ring and shared a moment of mutual respect with Rhodes before the entrance of the Final Boss, accompanied by rapper Travis Scott. When all four men were in the ring, The Rock re-stated his conditions, leaving the floor to Rhodes. After all of the anticipation, Rhodes gave his answer, saying, “Hey Rock… Go f**k yourself.” This instantly sent shockwaves through the audience, as it’s unheard of to get an uncensored F-bomb in the WWE. However, the moment was quickly overshadowed by what happened next. Cena went in to hug Rhodes, seemingly in a moment of solidarity with his fellow face. Staring at The Rock, Cena’s face dropped behind Rhodes’s back, going from a big smile to dead-serious. Then, the unthinkable happened. Cena turned heel. He kicked Rhodes with a low blow and proceeded to beat him senseless in what was possibly the most shocking moment in the WWE of my lifetime. Cena sold his soul to The Rock, officially cementing himself as one of the villains.
Wrestlemania 41 will take place over the course of two nights, April 19 and 20, streaming live on Peacock.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Commentary: WWE Elimination Chamber Results
It finally happened. After over twenty years as the face of the WWE… John Cena just turned heel.
I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. We’ll get back to Cena later. Overall, this year’s Elimination Chamber certainly didn’t disappoint. After receiving mixed reviews for last month’s PLE (Premium Live Event), the Royal Rumble, the WWE needed a surefire win leading into Wrestlemania 41. If breaking the record for the most-watched clip over 24 hours in WWE history doesn’t prove they succeeded, I don’t know what will.
We started the night with the women’s elimination chamber match. The rules for the match are that six competitors are locked in a steel cage. Two begin in the ring, while the other four are trapped in individual pods. Every few minutes, one of the four is released into the match in random order. If they’re pinned or if they tap out, they’re eliminated. The last one standing wins the opportunity to headline Wrestlemania 41 with a chance to win one of the championship belts.
Just as the women’s chamber match began, we got the resolution to the long-standing mystery of who attacked and injured Jade Cargill months ago. Cargill stormed out to the ring just before the chamber door was shut. However, instead of attacking Liv Morgan, who everyone assumed was responsible, Cargill targeted her former friend, Naomi, as their tag-team partner, Bianca Belair, watched in a state of panic, locked in her pod, unable to do anything about it. After a long and grueling match, Belair was able to come away with the win, securing her spot at Wrestlemania 41, where she’ll face either the current RAW Women’s World Champion, Rhea Ripley, or the number one contender, Iyo Sky.
Following this was the least essential match of the night, the current SmackDown Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton and 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Trish Stratus against Nia Jax and Candace Lerae in a tag-team match. To the surprise of nobody, Stratton and Stratus won the match easily.
Next, we got the highly-anticipated “unsanctioned match” between long-time frienemies Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. The idea of an unsanctioned match is that the WWE is unaffiliated with and not legally responsible for the results of the match. No rules. Anything goes. The match was as brutal as everyone expected, as both men were put through tables, hit with chairs, and even attacked with barbed wire. At the end of the day, Owens was able to pull out a win by the skin of his teeth. However, after the match ended, Owens went back to do more damage, ready to hit Zayn with an illegal move known as a piledriver, designed to target the neck of the opponent. Just as he was about to injure Zayn, the entrance music came on for all-time legend Randy Orton, and the arena erupted with excitement. Orton had been injured months prior by Owens using the same illegal move, so his return was truly a triumphant moment, running in to hit Owens with his finisher, the RKO. Then, to the delight of the fans, Orton lined up to deliver a punt to the head, as he was known to in the earlier days of his career before he was stopped and pulled away by security.
This led to the men’s elimination chamber match. After the elimination of half of the competitors, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, and John Cena were left standing. For a moment, Punk and Cena formed an alliance, uniting to eliminate Rollins. However, before leaving the chamber, Rollins got revenge on his bitter enemy, curb-stomping CM Punk’s face into the ground. This opened up a perfect opportunity for Cena to lock in his iconic STF submission maneuver, causing Punk to pass out. Just like that, Cena won his fourth elimination chamber in his historic career, as well as a trip to face Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania 41 for the Undisputed WWE Championship.
All of this led to the final segment of the night, which requires a bit of context. First of all, let’s define our terms. In pro wrestling, characters are often categorized as “faces,” who are more or less the heroes of the story, and “heels,” who are the villains. Many characters stay in one of those lanes for the majority of their careers. However, some characters have been known to switch between them, like Kevin Owens, who’s been riding the line since he debuted. Now that we’ve got the correct terminology established, let’s dive in. Semi-recently, legendary wrestler The Rock took a position as one of the higher-ups in the WWE, taking on the moniker “The Final Boss.” The current Undisputed WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes, caught the attention of The Rock, as a couple of weeks ago, he approached Rhodes with an unsettling proposition. He told Rhodes he could make every dream that he and his family have ever had come true and make sure that he retains his title… all in exchange for his soul. Yes, you heard me right. The Rock proposed a Faustian bargain with Cody Rhodes, playing the role of Mephisto or the Devil himself. We’ve officially stepped into uncharted territory.
Asbury cheerleading desires competition
Coming back to the Elimination Chamber, the main event was scheduled to be Rhodes telling The Rock his decision. After his win, Cena remained in the ring and shared a moment of mutual respect with Rhodes before the entrance of the Final Boss, accompanied by rapper Travis Scott. When all four men were in the ring, The Rock re-stated his conditions, leaving the floor to Rhodes. After all of the anticipation, Rhodes gave his answer, saying, “Hey Rock… Go f**k yourself.” This instantly sent shockwaves through the audience, as it’s unheard of to get an uncensored F-bomb in the WWE. However, the moment was quickly overshadowed by what happened next. Cena went in to hug Rhodes, seemingly in a moment of solidarity with his fellow face. Staring at The Rock, Cena’s face dropped behind Rhodes’s back, going from a big smile to dead-serious. Then, the unthinkable happened. Cena turned heel. He kicked Rhodes with a low blow and proceeded to beat him senseless in what was possibly the most shocking moment in the WWE of my lifetime. Cena sold his soul to The Rock, officially cementing himself as one of the villains.
Wrestlemania 41 will take place over the course of two nights, April 19 and 20, streaming live on Peacock.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.