WWE Elimination Chamber 2023: Why Roman Reigns Should Win (& Why It Should Be Sami Zayn)
- Umar Usman
- Feb 18, 2023
- 8 min read
Elimination Chamber on Saturday night is all about one match, Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn. The match to decide who will face Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 39.
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Ahead of the show in Montreal, WWE have a dilemma on their hands, stick or twist? Does Triple H choose to follow the long term plan of having the biggest star in the company pass the throne over to the new chosen face of the WWE, or will they follow the crowd’s reactions and pull the trigger on the current most over star the company has as justification for the incredible work he’s put in to get himself over? In this article we try to find why Roman Reigns should win at Elimination Chamber and why it should be Sami Zayn.
Why It Should Be Reigns:
10. Roman’s Reign Shouldn’t End On A B-Show
Since returning at SummerSlam 2020, Roman Reigns has been the most well booked, protected superstar, arguably in WWE history. No one since the glory days of Hulk Hogan has been portrayed as such a dominant and unstoppable champion who has dispatched every single challenger in such a manner of at times ease. The booking hasn’t just gone into his matches but his unbelievable character transformation to demeaning heel when he returned to obnoxious champion to unhinged mafia boss as the head of the table, the formation of the Bloodline and Roman’s manipulation of his own family in this has been the most gripping story WWE has done in its entire history. Obviously, the fans over the course of the last almost 3 years have very patiently waited for when the reign would end but also questioned who would be viable to be the person to dethrone the Tribal Chief and for ultras to occur on what is essentially a WWE B-Show would feel like a massive waste to end this historic run.
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9. This Is Not A Daniel Bryan Repeat
Many have compared this situation with Sami, Cody and Roman as very similar to the build to WrestleMania 30 where the fans literally forced WWE to put Daniel Bryan into the main event of WrestleMania with Randy Orton and Batista due to the lack of effort from WWE to push Bryan upwards to the main event scene, and in many ways shove him down the card believing fans would just give up, but they didn’t. And since many have known for a while that Cody would probably comeback to win the Royal Rumble while Sami was building the story with him, Roman and the Bloodline, it had been feared that the fans would turn on Cody for Sami but that hasn’t happened. Fans remain more invested in Cody than ever which I’m sure gives WWE the assurance that the original idea will work for WrestleMania and the other key difference is they are still pushing Sami and haven’t resented that fact that someone has got over on their own. WWE has allowed Sami to push himself into a huge angle and be a focus in the main event scene all the while sticking with their original plan for WrestleMania.
8. Plans Won’t Change Under Triple H
Naturally this story must reach its ending soon and we be thing has become very clear since Triple H took the creative pencil last summer, he has a plan and he will stick to it, there will be no last minute changes and rewrites on a whim which results in a direction which alienates the fans and his vision of having Cody Rhodes defeat Roman Reigns to end WrestleMania as the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion is the plan. Roman’s run at the top has been so well booked that WWE find themselves in a position that whoever will eventually get the rub from dethroning the company’s top star will automatically be positioned as a megastar but the flip side to that is not only creating the moment that fans will forever remember but how the aftermath plays out which is even more important and we know if Triple H has it all planned out he will stick to it.
7. Roman Losing At WrestleMania Means More
This coincides with what we said earlier but it bears its own mention. WrestleMania is where stories end and too many times over the years WWE has fallen into the trap of extending the feuds beyond the biggest show for another month only to end up where it would’ve been If WWE messes up the person who conquers Roman in a similar way to how WWE mishandled the end of the streak of Undertaker at WrestleMania, it will feel like a waste of not only the new face of the company but also of the past 3 years of building Roman to this point. Obvious logic dictates that Roman should be dethroned at WrestleMania, the biggest show of the year and the one place fitting to end a truly historic title run with Mania being in Hollywood this year it feels perfect to finally have wrestling’s number one villain finally be beaten.
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6. Cody Is The WWE Guy
An often running gag for years when Roman was pushed despite the fans objection was that he was considering “The Guy” that WWE wanted as the face of the company. Someone who fired the mould of how WWE want themselves to be represented in the eyes of the public and for the company, Cody has what they love, good looking guy, smartly dressed in suits, talks impeccably for media interviews and someone who is loved and respected by the wrestling community. And in many ways for the fans it’s perfect too. Cody is someone they’ve seen from a young talent, leave and grown himself to a top star, return and prove himself to be the star WWE nearly lost forever to their biggest competitor. As was mentioned when he won the Royal Rumble, Cody needs to finish is story and that is why Roman Reigns should beat Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber. But what if there’s a different story to finish. A story that hasn’t been planned meticulously, one that the fans have personally invested in, one that has grown organically from an annoying comedy act shoehorned into the main event program to being consistently the most over act in wrestling today.
Why It Should Be Zayn:
5. Sami’s Efforts Have Made This Work
Sami Zayn has always been a popular star in WWE among it’s hardcore fanbase as he has always had an innate ability to turn angles and storylines that would kill many other superstars into funny, compelling programming, from conspiracy theorist to brawling with the crew from Jackass he has taken anything given to him and made it work well. Ever since Sami first started to associate himself with the Bloodline many fans expected it to be something that lasted a few weeks and would be ended on an episode of SmackDown, but the longer that it carried on the more the fans became invested in it, largely due to Sami’s incredible character work that has made him the most over superstar WWE has on the roster today. It would not only be a reward to the fans who’ve watched Sami organically make this story happen but for Sami himself it would symbolise WWE saying you’ve achieved this and we will reward you for it. Too often superstars have received no befit from getting themselves over, indeed sometimes wrestlers have been punished for doing exactly that, so it would feel refreshing and show how much WWE has already changed under Triple H’s creative direction if they give Sami the perfect ending to his story.
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4. The Fans Have Invested So Much In Sami
His slow progression in earning Roman’s and the Bloodline’s trust has kept wrestling fans on the edge of their seats watching on a weekly basis and the more it got over and the closer we got to WrestleMania, many were beginning to wonder where this would lead to with some clamouring now for Sami to be the one to dethrone Roman at the Grandest Stage Of Them All. When the implosion finally happened at the Royal Rumble the fans ovation for Sami distorted the sound the cheers and screams were so loud that it resonated as one of the biggest reactions WWE has had this side of the 21st century. The fans want Sami to be the one to conquer the invincible final boss, someone who’s been in the bloodline, who knows Roman’s possible weaknesses and can exploit them to give the fans the moment they crave, Sami doing the impossible.
3. WWE Can’t Miss The Moment To Pull The Trigger On Sami
If WWE choose to stick to their plan for Cody to be the one who takes the belts from Roman it could be a missed opportunity to create a megastar and create a moment that could be remembered for decades to come. People still remember Hogan beating Sheik, Goldberg beating Hogan, Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30 to name a few, we cherish those moments that will always remain and that’s what WWE could create by having Sami win on Saturday. WWE arguably missed a chance to do this last year at Clash Of The Castle in the United Kingdom where homeboy Drew McIntyre has basically the same circumstances as Sami does although to a lesser degree. But he had the crowd with him and the moment was there for him but WWE chose not to, arguably the correct decision long-term but if the don’t pull the trigger on Sami winning then that moment could be lost forever.
2. An Unexpected Helping Hand From Someone Ucey
Everyone expects some form of shenanigans to occurs during Saturday’s main event match. We haven’t seen Kevin Owens since the Rumble and with him also being a native French-Canadian he’s sure to show up to maybe help out the man who his whole career has been intertwined with even before WWE. But what if Sami wins via someone close to Roman, the one who in many ways was the start of the Bloodline who has been maybe the hidden star of this near 3 year story, Jey Uso. The story between Jey and Sami of Jey not trusting and wanting Zayn kicked out of the group to being the one who saved Sami during the trial on Raw’s 30th Anniversary Show, it’s been a long and winding road that was further twisted when Jey walked away from everyone as an emotional wreck at the Royal Rumble. We’ve seen Jey often step out of line and at times defy Roman so if on Saturday he is pushed too far for the last time and ends up being the one to help Sami finally take down his own cousin it would thread a lot of ties together and be another moment that the fans would be aching to see.
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1. It’s At Home
You have the most reviled villain in the business today as the number one guy against the lovable underdog who has the emotional groundswell of support behind him who so happens to be facing him in his own hometown the story writes itself. This is almost a once in a generation moment on Saturday. Montreal, Canada is one of the most passionate wrestling cities on the planet rich with great champions and WWE could create something that can solidify Sami Zayn as a superhero for life. If he pins Roman Reigns, 1-2-3 at Elimination Chamber, the happiness of the crowd in attendance will be among the absolute biggest in wrestling history. Think of Rock-Hogan at WrestleMania 18 in Toronto Skydome and multiply it by one million that genuinely could be what we witness at the end of Saturday with fans around the world in tears of joy as the Underdog from the Underground becomes the Big Dog, the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Sami Zayn.
Written by:
Ben Boorman
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