Tonight’s Elimination Chamber in Toronto, Canada, has hit heights that the gimmick event has rarely seen before, with much of the hype surrounding “The Decision 2025.” When the Chamber match started filling out, fans assumed the big hook for this event would be John Cena, CM Punk, and Logan Paul in the same match—and one that often takes something from its competitors. However, that was only until ‘The Final Boss’ returned to a random Friday Night SmackDown and presented Cody Rhodes with anything but a simple decision.
He asked for Cody’s soul, an ominous request later clarified by the likes of Seth Rollins, The Miz, and Michael Cole, among others, throughout EC’s final build-up on both RAW and SD. It was Cole last night on SD that drove the point home for everyone regarding the true nature of Cody’s options. On one hand, he has come this far in a business that is always one slip away from losing it all, and on the other hand, he has the chance to make an ally of the single most important gatekeeper on his road to superstardom—Dwayne “The Final Board of Directors” Johnson.
The decision has taken over the show’s narrative, with the winner of tonight’s Chamber match working as the backdrop for Cody’s decision. With 38,493 in attendance at the Rogers Centre, the main event will be the equivalent of Hulk Hogan deciding whether to be the ‘third member’ or not, but they have stripped everything down to make the segment more compelling.
With Drake in the building for Chamber (fan pics captured him in attendance with Lil Yachty), this event has major, company-altering vibes.
Men’s Elimination Chamber
Logan Paul was the first competitor out, waving the American flag and drawing as much heat as he could pre-match. One by one, the competitors came out, but CM Punk made it a point to walk up to Paul (already in his plexiglass chamber) to signal ‘good night’ for the YouTuber who threw him out at this year’s Rumble. Punk promised Paul a ‘receipt’ for that action on last week’s RAW.
Cena had not been seen since Rumble, so it was no surprise that he was held for the 5th spot while Punk entered last, with Paul waiting for the door to open as the countdown hit zero. The first and only elimination before all had entered was McIntyre—this was likely to keep him away from Punk (a smart booking).
Logan was eventually eliminated by Punk as promised, and that is when the match truly began as the field was narrowed down to Punk-Cena-Rollins—the three entrants with the highest odds of winning entering the contest. Rollins had his moments, but he, too, was eventually eliminated.
That left us with the final two that we all hoped to see in the finals, the same booking that Punk had in mind for the Rumble in January. They exchanged near falls off their finishers, but it was not enough to keep either legend down for the count. The fans popped for nearly every exchange, but the finish would not come clean.
Seth found a way to factor into the outcome as he delivered a curb stomp to Punk, and that allowed Cena to take advantage—slapping an STF of Punk, who eventually passed out, and the ref called for the bell. Cena won and stamped his place for Mania, but his place in history on this night was not finished yet.
The Decision 2025
Cody’s music hit, and he walked out in a black suit, straight up to Cena, and shook his hand in exchange of respect. The words were off-mic, but Cena made it clear that he expects to meet Cody on the grandest stage with his lineage on the line.
The Rock’s music hit, and it was clear that Cena would remain ringside for the decision. The Final Boss came out with Travis Scott, whose music hit before it was mixed into Rock’s entrance theme. He took his time getting to the ring, and you could see the weight on Cody’s face with two of the most powerful men in entertainment heading towards a ring with WWE’s former (and arguably greatest) ‘face’ of the company standing right beside him.
The Rock came right out and asked Cody, and instead of beating around the bush, Cody made a definitive statement immediately, ‘I want it all Rock,’ he said as The Rock smiled, and the crowd grew silent, expecting the worst. Cody went on to say he’d already lost his soul and then sold the idea that he was accepting Rock’s offer. However, Cody said his soul already belonged to WWE fans worldwide, a statement that Cena applauded. Rock’s face said it all—he understood at that moment that he would not be acquiring Cody’s soul on this date and perhaps never. The fans cheered as Cody went off on Rock.
“Hey Rock, go f**k yourself,” Cody exclaimed to a huge pop. It was an incredible line that parallels the overall story. Cody uses a word that is meant only for the worst heels to signify his purity, and it was terrific writing.
Cody embraced Cena, who looked at Rock as if to say, ‘You tried the wrong guy; he’s one of the good ones.’ They embraced once more, and that is when Cena’s face went to stone, and The Rock signaled to his former rival with the ‘throat slit’ motion previously used by Rock. That is when Cena kicked Cody straight in the crotch—the start of a vicious attack from Cena, though both Rock and Travis Scott joined in the torture.
Cena used his watch as a brass knuckle and Cody’s own WWE title to split the champ’s head wide open before applying his submission. Travis Scott beat on Cody while Cena held him like ‘the muscle’ in a gang. The crowd was stunned, and they booed the pairing of Rock-Cena with Scott as the hype guy taking advantage of his large company.
It was a somber ending as Cody was left motionless and bleeding. He refused an offer that could not be refused without consequences—but what is the consequence of this team-up? For weeks, fans and superstars alike debated the impact of Cody ‘selling out’ and to the Rock of all people, but that was a situation where everyone understood that Rock would be pulling the strings on Cody as he elevated his star status.
But the implications of two major forces working in unison carries with it unknown consequences that outweigh all other factions currently operating in WWE. Cena will have some questions to answer, and after revealing his own motivation, we will learn the level of impact this will have. That said, the signs were all there as Cena demanded his entry into the Chamber without a qualifier; now we know who pulled those strings. We thought this was Cena pulling rank for the sake of his retirement tour, but it is more likely that Cena and Rock have been navigating their own interests well in advance.
Women’s Elimination Chamber
The match started off the show, which was expected considering how the women’s EC match was lost in the hoopla of ‘The Final Boss.’ But the women’s match was able to set the tone for the night before the match even started.
As each woman made their way into their respective chambers, Liv and Naomi were set to start the match. Then, a seventh entrance song hit, and it was for the returning Jade Cargill. The camera cut to Liv’s face, who was in shock as she saw the powerful upstart charging towards the ring. Liv and Raquel had received the blame for the attack that left Jade injured.
When she got to the ring, Jade pump faked the Liv beef before attacking Naomi instead. Jade threw a vicious beating on Naomi, using the EC as a weapon to put her out of commission. Belair, helplessly locked in her Chamber, was forced to watch her two partners implode in front of her eyes—filled with tears by the end of Naomi’s trashing. Jade was satisfied, but the damage was done, and Naomi was stretchered out of the cage. The announcement was made that Naomi could not continue and was thus technically eliminated. The very next entrant into the match? Belair.
Bianca was forced to regain her composure to battle it out with the person she has (maybe unfairly) blamed for injuring her tag partner over the past few weeks—fighting back and forth while interfering in each other’s bookings.
The match was elevated after that spot, but it was not the only standout of the match. Roxanne Perez performed well and had great chemistry with everyone she interacted with in the match. Her feud with Bayley did not play as much of a role as expected, but it has been a slow build regardless.
Bianca picked up the win and will go on to challenge Rhea for the title at Mania. Rhea came out to meet Bianca on the stage on her way back to ‘Gorilla.’ The optics were terrific as these two powerful women stared down one another with Mania as the backdrop. Still, the Jade situation could be a distraction that she cannot afford at this point.
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn—Unsanctioned Match
They sold this as the rivalry in the storied Owens-Zayn saga—the one meant to end all others and possibly each other’s careers. They promised violence, and that is what we received. The match started out with the arena’s ‘under lights’ on only, giving the allusion that the ring was not being utilized for a ‘promoted’ match. We have seen this before, and it can be effective, but neither of these guys needed any gimmicks because they were always going to deliver for their hometown Canadian fans.
Sami played the underdog role, of course, and K.O. continued his unhinged, violent character arch by continuously upping the ante. He threw Sami through two tables stacked on each other and delivered a devastating power bomb on the ring apron—the spot that launched the inaugural Owens-Zayn rivalry in NXT.
Owens eventually did enough to keep Zayn down, but the violence he inflicted on his former friend was not enough to quench his thirst for blood. Owens was getting ready to dish out more punishment to Zayn when Randy Orton’s music hit, another return on the night, and the fans popped.
Randy laid a beating on Owens, yelling at him for attempting to end his career. Orton set up Owens for a curb stomp, but WWE officials were able to prevent the banned move. This is a nice addition to the feud with Randy’s move being banned versus Owens ‘package piledriver’ also banned though he has been using it for months.
Tiffany Stratton & Trish Stratus vs. Nia Jax & Candace LeRae
Stratton and Stratus were successful in tag team action against Jax and LeRae. It was the popcorn match of the night, but Stratton is at least riding the momentum wave as we inch closer to WrestleMania.
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