 Kickoff Show: WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors def. Candice LeRae and Indi HartwellI have no idea why this wasn't advertised for the card prior to Thursday's press event, but I'm glad it got added at all with Hartwell being from Australia. Granted, there's no excuse for Bronson Reed, a fellow Aussie, being left off the show (update: he's since revealed his child was born early and he got to be home for that, so that worked out well), but I'm happy for Hartwell. You could clearly tell she was having a blast out there. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the match itself, but it was well worked and the outcome was expected. Becky Lynch def. Liv Morgan, Bianca Belair, Raquel Rodriguez, Tiffany Stratton and Naomi in a Women's World Championship No. 1 Contender's Elimination Chamber MatchThe women's Chamber matches have only gotten better and better over the years. I really enjoyed this installment with everyone getting time to shine. I wish Stratton lasted a little longer than she did, but she absolutely had the breakout performance of everyone involved. The crowd was behind her throughout and actually booed when she got eliminated. As I've said before, she has a very bright future ahead of her. The rest of the matchup was excellently executed with plenty of crisp counters and cool moments. I liked how Morgan just barely lost. I doubt she ends up factoring into Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 40, but I wouldn't be upset if she did. The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest) def. New Catch RepublicI'm not fond of the new team name and theme for Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne, but it does mean they'll be together for the foreseeable future. They received a pretty favorable reaction in front of this crowd. It was a fun match with the two teams working really well together and getting plenty of time. I assumed Judgment Day would retain, but I appreciated New Catch Republic being made to look credible in defeat. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory Hosted The Grayson Waller Effect with Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" RollinsGood for Grayson getting the full entrance in his home country. Unsurprisingly, he was super over. The segment was standard stuff and could easily happened on Raw or SmackDown, but I understand wanting to get Rhodes and Rollins in front of the big crowd since they weren't in action. Rollins mentioning he's a few days away from being quick seems quick considering he got injured only a month ago, but if that's true, that's terrific news. Rhodes calling out The Rock for a one-on-one match was also notable. That has to be happening Night 1 of WrestleMania, right? If so, does Rhodes lose there and win on Night 2? I'd rather he win both nights, but I realize that may not be realistic. Drew McIntyre def. Randy Orton, United States Champion Logan Paul, Kevin Owens, LA Knight and Bobby Lashley in a World Heavyweight Championship No. 1 Contender's Elimination Chamber MatchSimilar to Lynch, McIntyre winning felt like a lock, but that was always the outcome that made the most sense. Despite the predictability of it, this was another entertaining Chamber match. The order of eliminations was largely logical, and although it was slow at certain points, they had their fair share of standout spots. Three 'Mania matches were set up with AJ Styles interfering to attack Knight, Paul costing Orton the win, and McIntyre obviously earning the opportunity to challenge for the World Heavyweight title. Orton vs. Paul and Styles vs. Knight will both deliver I'm sure, but I can't say I'm not disappointed we won't see Knight dethrone Paul as United States Champion on that show. Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley def. Nia JaxRipley getting the grand homecoming was special. This was her WrestleMania, and what's funny is that she'll be walking into WrestleMania in April as champion, too. I never had high hopes for the match, but credit where it's due to Jax. She's improved since being back and she put forth a commendable effort here. They told the story of Ripley having to fight from underneath and the crowd came alive when she ultimately did. Not an instant classic of course, but it was a worthy main event with the Australia native standing tall to end the night. Overall ShowBless anyone who stayed up late/woke up early to watch this. That's not to knock the quality of the event by any means, but 5 a.m. is too damn early for me to be watching wrestling. Now I know how everyone in the United Kingdom and other countries feel watching this stuff live every week. Nonetheless, this was a solid show. There were no shockers among the outcomes and everything went the way I figured it would, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The right people went over and the stage is set for many matches at WrestleMania. The international events continue to be a treat, even if some of them aren't must-see in terms of significant storyline development or monumental moments.
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