Elimination Chamber is in the books. And the main event was one for the ages. Roman Reigns is still the undisputed WWE universal champion. That was to be expected, especially with WrestleMania and a match with Cody Rhodes coming up. Reigns beat hometown hero Sami Zeyn on Saturday in a battle that had the fans in Montreal roaring.
Was it up there with Hulk Hogan’s body slam of Andre the Giant at WrestleMania or Brock Lesnar ending the Undertaker’s WrestleMania win streak? How about Zayn’s chair shot of Reigns at the Royal Rumble? History will tell.
Is it over?
From what Zayn said after the match, his feud with Reigns is over. There is still the feud with The Bloodline. The Usos. Maybe Jimmy Uso. Certainly, Solo Sokoa. But not Reigns himself.
“The bar has been raised,” Zayn said during the post-match news conference. “Being good is not good enough anymore. The hardest thing to do in the age of content is to be something memorable. If I may be so bold as to toot our own horn, I think we walked away from this story with so many memorable TV segments that people will remember five or ten years later. I hope the Montreal ovation is one of those.”
Five-minute standing ovation
The Montreal ovation is the five-minute standing ovation that Zayn received the night before the match on SmackDown.
The WWE had another hometown hero trying to win a championship Monday. Edge, wearing red trimmed trunks with maple leaves on him, faced Austin Theory for the United States championship in Ottawa, where EdgeJudgme hadn’t wrestled in 18 years. Everything was going great for the “Rated R Superstar” until Finn Balor from Judgement Day arrived on the scene.
Balor interfered, Theory got the pin, then Balor delivered three coups de graces from the top rope, coming down with his feet on Edge’s chest. Edge didn’t win his 32nd championship, and he left the ring after taking a beating. Look for an Edge vs. Balor at WrestleMania.
Richard Belzer vs. Hulk Hogan
On an unrelated note, Richard Belzer died Sunday. Belzer, who was known for his role on the popular TV series, “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” had a notorious connection to professional wrestling that involved none other than Hogan.
Belzer hosted the show “Hot Properties” in the mid-1980s. Hogan and Mr. T were on the program promoting the first WrestleMania. Belzer goaded Hogan, telling him in no uncertain terms that professional wrestling was fake. Hogan put Belzer in a front chin lock to show him how fake it was. Belzer passed out and fell to the ground.
Belzer was helped up by Hogan, but Belzer sued Hogan, Mr. T, Vince McMahon, and the WWF (that was what the WWE was called at the time), according to a story in the Hollywood Reporter. Belzer and the company reportedly settled for $400,000 in 1990, which he used for a home in France.
