Elimination Chamber (2023)

The event is set to be held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which is WWE's first major event to be held here since Breaking Point in September 2009

Elimination Chamber is a gimmick event first produced by the American promotion WWE in 2010. It has been held every year since, except in 2016, generally in February. The concept of the event is that one or two main event matches are contested inside the Elimination Chamber, either with championships or future opportunities at championships at stake.[1] Announced on October 24, 2022, the 13th Elimination Chamber event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands. This marks the first Elimination Chamber event to be held in Canada, and the second to be held outside of the United States, after the 2022 event, which was held in Saudi Arabia. This also marks the first major WWE event to be held in Montreal since Breaking Point in September 2009. In addition to airing on pay-per-view worldwide and the livestreaming services Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets,[2][3] it will also be the first Elimination Chamber to livestream on Binge in Australia after the Australian version of the WWE Network merged under Foxtel's channel Binge in January.[4] It was also announced that the February 17 episode of Friday Night SmackDown would air live from the same venue. Premium hospitality packages went on sale on October 28 before general public tickets became available on November 18.[2][3]

In 2011 and since 2013, the event has been promoted as "No Escape" in Germany as it was feared that the name "Elimination Chamber" may remind people of the gas chambers used during the Holocaust.[5][6]

Elimination Chamber will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[7][8] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[9]

On January 30, it was announced that Austin Theory would defend the United States Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, marking the first time for the title to be contested in the structure. Qualifying matches began on that night's episode of Raw, with Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Johnny Gargano, and Bronson Reed earning their spots in the match by defeating Chad Gable, Baron Corbin, and Dolph Ziggler, respectively.[10] The last two qualifying matches took place on the following week's episode, where Damian Priest and Montez Ford earned their spots by defeating Angelo Dawkins and Elias, respectively.[11]

On the January 30 episode of Raw, WWE official Adam Pearce announced that due to the women's Royal Rumble match winner choosing to challenge for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 39, Bianca Belair's challenger for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania would be determined by an Elimination Chamber match, consisting of three wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown each. The first qualifiers were confirmed as the four runner ups in the women's Royal Rumble match: Asuka and Nikki Cross from Raw and Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez from SmackDown.[10] The fifth and sixth spots were decided in two fatal four-way matches. The first took place on the February 3 episode of SmackDown, where Natalya defeated Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, and Zelina Vega,[12] while the second occurred on the February 6 episode of Raw, where the returning Carmella defeated Candice LeRae, "Michin" Mia Yim, and Piper Niven.[11] The following week, both Becky Lynch and Bayley expressed their desire to compete in the Elimination Chamber match, however, Belair interrupted and stated that if they wanted to compete in the match, they should go through her first. Pearce then scheduled a triple threat match for that night, where if Bayley or Lynch won, then they would be added to the match, however, if Belair won, neither would be added; Belair was victorious.[13]

After Roman Reigns retained the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and Solo Sikoa attacked Reigns' opponent, Kevin Owens, while honorary Bloodline member Sami Zayn watched on in uncertainty, as Owens was Zayn's former best friend. As Reigns was about to attack a defenseless Owens with a steel chair, Zayn pleaded with Reigns to stop. Reigns then instructed Zayn to attack Owens with the chair to prove his loyalty to The Bloodline. After being berated by Reigns, Zayn turned on Reigns and attacked him with the chair instead. Zayn apologized to Jey for his actions only for Jimmy, Sikoa, and Reigns to attack Zayn. An emotionally distraught Jey, who initially took a liking to Zayn, watched on before leaving the ring as the rest of The Bloodline continued the assault on both Zayn and Owens.[14] On the following episode of SmackDown, as Reigns tried to address the events at the Royal Rumble, Zayn attacked Reigns from behind and stated that he initially did not want anything from Reigns, but he now wanted the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Jey was absent that night, and Jimmy and Sikoa attacked Zayn, after which, Reigns accepted his challenge, stating that since Zayn hurt his family, he would hurt Zayn in front of his own family in Montreal.[12]

At Extreme Rules in October 2022, Judgment Day member Finn Bálor defeated Edge in an "I Quit" match after fellow Judgment Day member, Rhea Ripley, forced him to quit after threatening to attack Edge's wife Beth Phoenix with a con-chair-to. Despite Edge giving up, Ripley still attacked Phoenix with the maneuver.[15] At the Royal Rumble, Edge returned as an entrant in the men's Royal Rumble match, where he faced off against Judgment Day members Bálor, Damian Priest, and Dominik Mysterio. After Edge eliminated Bálor and Priest, Edge tried to eliminate Mysterio, however, Bálor and Priest eliminated Edge. A brawl then ensued between Edge and Judgment Day on the entrance aisle. Ripley then joined only for Phoenix to make her return and perform a Spear on Ripley.[14] On the February 6 episode of Raw, Edge and Phoenix challenged Bálor and Ripley to a mixed tag team match at Elimination Chamber, which Bálor accepted.[11]

At the 2022 Royal Rumble, Bobby Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar, thanks to outside interference.[16] They had a rematch at Crown Jewel in November which Lesnar won, although Lashley dominated the match.[17] At Raw is XXX on January 23, 2023, Lesnar returned from hiatus and cost Lashley his United States Championship match.[18] The two then competed in the 2023 men's Royal Rumble match where Lashley eliminated Lesnar.[14] On the February 6 episode of Raw, Lesnar appeared with a contract to challenge Lashley to another match at Elimination Chamber. Lashley came out and stated that he would give Lesnar an answer later on after reviewing the contract. This prompted Lesnar to attack Lashley with two F-5s.[11] A contract signing for the match occurred the following week, and after Lashley laid out Lesnar, he signed the contract to make the match official.[13]