All eyes were on Sami Zayn heading into WWE’s Elimination Chamber, as the Montreal crowd was rooting for Zayn to take down The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. Zayn turned on Reigns at the Royal Rumble, and ever since he’s targeted Reigns and solidified his friendship with Jey Uso. All of that came into play tonight, as after an absolutely fantastic match full of knocked-out referees and near falls, Jey returned and the cracks really showed in his relationship with Reigns. Zayn would actually pin Reigns in the match but with no referee, it didn’t count, and later Reigns was able to win the match with the help of Jimmy Uso. When things turned bad for Zayn after the match, it was Kevin Owens returning to help, and now we have the seeds of a WrestleMania 39 event.
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Reigns and Zayn stared each other down for a while and Reigns looked visibly annoyed. He got some swagger back after knocking Zayn down with a shoulder tackle, and Reigns was pretty happy about it. Zayn went right back at Reigns though, and he locked Reigns in an aggressive hold while laying in some strikes, but then Reigns knocked Zayn down to a host of boos.
Reigns taunted Zayn and then Zayn sent Reigns over the ropes and dove over, colliding with Reigns and knocking him to the floor. Reigns grabbed his right ear and Zayn capitalized, hitting multiple punches in the corner on Reigns and then unleashing a fury of punches to his head. Zayn slammed into Reigns and went for the cover, but Reigns kicked out.
Reigns dropped Zayn with a right hand though, buying himself some time to regroup. He utilized the time and slammed Zayn back to the mat and then kept him on the ground. Reigns then hit Zayn with more forearms in the corner and then turned to yell at the crowd, who was booing him. He threw Zayn out of the ring and to the barricade, where the fans cheered Zayn on. Reigns then started talking to the fans and told them it was never supposed to be like this, blaming Zayn.
Reigns kept trying to toy with Zayn but he hit Reigns with an unexpected salvo of offense, which kept the Champion on his heels. Zayn then collided with Reigns and clotheslined him over the top rope to the ground, and Reigns was definitely not prepared for that. Zayn then slammed Reigns against the barricade and clubbed him with forearms before throwing him back into the ring.
Zayn kissed his wife in the crowd and then went back into the ring, but was caught by Reigns up top. Zayn rallied with punches and then hit the Power Bomb on Reigns from the top rope and went for the pin, but Reigns kicked out. Zayn tried to lift Reigns but he blocked it and hit a huge slam of his own into a cover, but Zayn kicked out.
Reigns set up for a spear but Zayn caught him and hit an Exploder into the corner turnbuckle. He then set up for a Helluva Kick but Reigns hit the Superman Punch into a cover, though Zayn kicked out. Reigns then went for another move but Zayn hit his own and set up for his own Superman Punch and he connected. Then he hit a Helluva Kick and went for the cover but Reigns somehow kicked out.
Zayn was keen to capitalize and continue the momentum, but Reigns stopped him in his tracks. He then went around the ring and went to spear Zayn into the barricade, but Zayn dodged him and Reigns went through instead. Zayn quickly got Reigns into the ring and hit a Blue Thunder Bomb into a cover, but Reigns kicked out.
Zayn went to lift Reigns but he blocked it. He then backed up Zayn into the official in the corner, and his back elbows knocked the referee out. Zayn followed it up with a Helluva Kick though and covered Reigns, getting the 3 count, but the referee was out cold. Jimmy Uso came in and hit Zayn with two superkicks before he went up top, and he hit the Uso Splash before dragging Reigns over to cover Zayn. The new referee came in and started the count, but Zayn lifted his shoulder in time.
Reigns taunted Zayn but the challenger came back with punches to the face. Reigns kept taunting but then Zayn punched him again. He then dodged a Superman Punch and stomped Reigns in the corner, causing him to run out of the ring. Zayn then hit Jimmy with a Helluva Kick, but Reigns hit a spear and went for the cover, though Zayn kicked out and the crowd lost it.
Reigns taunted again and started yelling at him in the middle of the ring. Reigns kept slapping Zayn but he got up and slapped Reigns back. He then dodged another Superman Punch which took out another referee. Then Zayn hit a Punch of his own and both were down. Paul Heyman then went under the ring and grabbed a chair and gave it to Reigns, but then Jey came in and stared Reigns down. Reigns asked if he was defying him and then handed him a chair. The crowd chanted no but Jey grabbed the chair as he stared at Zayn.
Jey then looked as if he would hit Reigns, but Reigns turned around and started yelling at him and took the chair back. Reigns then started slapping Jey and Zayn went to hit Reigns but he got out of the way and hit Jey instead. Reigns hit a Superman Punch on Zayn and went for the cover, and he got the win.
Reigns wasn’t satisfied though, and he called Jimmy in to help him beat up Zayn some more. That’s when Kevin Owens came to the ring and took care of Jimmy before going in the ring and hitting Reigns with a Stunner. Then he hit Reigns with a Stunner, and when Heyman came in to try and distract him he hit him with a Stunner as well. Then he let Zayn hit Reigns with a Helluva Kick before heading out of the ring, and Zayn looked confused.
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
