Seth Rollins hasn’t gone by his Architect nickname for years, but when he saw an opportunity to hose the man he most despises at WWE Elimination Chamber Toronto, he didn’t hesitate. When John Cena saw a way to make his position for his WrestleMania stronger, neither did he.
The fans in attendance at Rogers Centre saw one fairly expected result in the men’s Elimination Chamber match followed by a pretty shocking turn and betrayal. And it ended with two all-time greats aligning and turning their backs on the fans in one fell swoop, shaking things up but leaving the battle lines looking pretty clear headed to WrestleMania 41.
The expected result was Cena emerging triumphant in the Chamber. The twist was that he did it with help from the already eliminated Rollins taking his opportunity to ensure his archrival CM Punk was going to continue his famous run of WrestleMania main event futility.
In a cool spot that saw Punk’s head poked just through the ropes, Rollins hit him with a stomp on the metal platform between the ring and the cage. Cena dragged Punk back into the ring, locking in an STF that made the Straight Edge Superstar fade out.
With Cena still basking in the glow of winning his way to WrestleMania, he got a visit from the man he’s going to be facing, Cody Rhodes. As they shook hands in the ring, The Rock’s entrance turned into an appearance by Travis Scott. The Rock showed off his iconic goosebumps before walking the aisle with the music megastar.
The Rock headed to Rhodes and said he will open his eyes and Cody would come to him, embracing him as his champion. He said he needed everything, including Rhodes’ soul. If Cody said no, The Rock said the dream would die … again.
“I want it all Rock,” Rhodes said, but claimed his soul no longer belonged to him. Cody explained he’s given his soul to the ring and to the fans and followed with, “Hey Rock, go f–k yourself,” Predictably, Cena and Travis Scott were dying in the background.
Rhodes went over to hug Cena, but The Rock made a throat-slashing sign and Cena kicked Rhodes in the crotch. With a pair of brass knuckles, Cena ran wild on Rhodes, delivering more punishment with the microphone and Cody’s own world title belt.
“Come on John, just stop,” pleaded Michael Cole. Now busted open, Rhodes staggered to his feet and got hit with another belt shot, then choked with his own tie. Scott and Cena held Rhodes down so The Rock could whip Cody with a weight belt.
A “you sold out” chant broke out as The Rock smeared some blood on the belt and got in one final shot. Cena tossed the title belt across Rhodes back with disdain before leaving, and it was Cole who went into the ring to check on Rhodes as Rock, Scott and Cena posed one last time in the walkway.
Turning Cena heel right before his final WrestleMania is an intriguing choice, one that makes the weirdness of The Rock’s recent actions a little more understandable. It’s perhaps a little regrettable that WWE won’t be using this to put over someone younger, but if Cena ends up dethroning Rhodes in Las Vegas, there might still be time for that before Cena rides off into the sunset at the end of the year.
The next WWE premium live event is WrestleMania 41 on April 19-20, 2025.
WWE Elimination Chamber Toronto 2025 Results
Women’s Elimination Chamber Match
Though Liv Morgan and Naomi are the first two women in the ring, they don’t stay alone for long. Jade Cargill makes an emphatic return by marching into the chamber and going right after Naomi, pump kicking Naomi into one of the pods despite referees attempting to halt her rampage. Jade also smashes Naomi in the sliding door of the chamber before she finally leaves. The official word is that Naomi can’t continue.
Naomi is eliminated.
Bianca Belair is next in, but is distracted by seeing Naomi getting stretchered out. That keeps her from getting her footing for a while, which makes it easier for Roxanne Perez to start unloading on both Belair and Morgan once she enters the match. Hey, a pinfall attempt. Perez does some cool stuff off the wall of the chamber but soon finds herself in the pod with Bayley, who is the next woman in.
Bayley takes a nasty back bump on the platform between the ring and the cage, though it’s not enough to keep her down for Perez’s pinfall attempt. Alexa Bliss just looks on and smiles from her pod before she slowly walks into the ring.
Another cool spot sees Bliss go for a cross body and get caught by both Bayley and Belair and slammed to the mat. Bayley gets caught in a crossface by Perez and has to roll out under the bottom rope to get herself free. But it doesn’t keep her safe from an opportunistic attack from Morgan, who gets the three count to take us down to four combatants.
Bayley is eliminated.
Belair and Morgan battle atop one of the pods with Bianca coming out on top. She dives off the pod with a cross body, taking out everyone else still left. A four-person powerbomb spot off the top turnbuckle is left, leaving everyone down and struggling to recuperate. Perez ends up taking several moves in quick succession, finished by Twisted Bliss, and she’s not kicking out from that.
Roxanne Perez is eliminated.
In the midst of a quick exchange of moves, Bliss catches Belair with Sister Abigail. Liv is Johnny on the spot again, though, catching Bliss by surprise and pinning her.
Alexa Biss is eliminated.
That leaves just Belair and Morgan, and Liv gets out to a quick start by using Belair’s hair to smash her repeatedly into the cage. Bianca fires right back with a nasty spear and a near fall.
With Morgan stuck upside-down, Belair is able to swing her several times into the pod. A powerbomb follows, but Morgan rallies with a Codebreaker. Oblivion is countered by the KOD, and Bianca is the winner. The announcers do a good job making the victory seem even more impressive given the early attack on her partner Naomi.
Winner: Bianca Belair
Near the end of the entrance walkway, Rhea Ripley comes out to have a staredown with Belair, and Iyo Sky soon joins them both to promote the idea that Sky is facing Ripley for her title in a few days on Raw.
Nia Jax and Candice LeRae vs. Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus
Jax and LeRae try to end this quickly, double teaming Stratton and feeling good about themselves. Fans enjoy though don’t go crazy when Stratus tags in; the problem is she’s easily overpowered by Nia. Oh, and Trish takes a Stink Face too. Tough being the hometown hero sometimes.
Stratton finds the going no easier when she tags back in, taking a rough looking bump to her knee but also showing the sheer strength to suplex Jax. Not a ton of elevation on it but I’m not one to nitpick as there’s no way I’d ever be able to do that.
Stratus hits a Super Stratusfaction on Jax, and after a couple more moves, Tiff hits the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to seal the deal. Good palate cleanser and a nice moment for Tiffany and Trish.
Winners: Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus by pinfall
Travis Scott is shown coming into the arena, yet it remains to be seen what he’ll do tonight. We also see a video recap of The Rock’s 2024 -2025 WWE stint and his status as a movie star. Guessing everyone watching this premium live event knows all this, but it’s pretty par for the course considering he’s supposed to be on the show tonight.
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens – Unsanctioned Match
OK, while it would be cool for this to take place at the end of the card since, WWE deserves some props for having the referee in a plain black shirt instead of the stripes. Unsanctioned, you know? There’s slightly different lighting as well.
Chairs soon come into play as Michael Cole reminds us these two men were in each other’s weddings. Zayn gets the fans to pop by bringing out a hockey stick and quickly puts it to good use. He also sets up a table on the floor, though it seems that won’t come into play until later. KO makes Sami bite down on the stick while also biting Zayn’s forehead, getting Cole to exclaim, “This guy’s nuts!”
Owens makes a stack of two tables just beyond one of the turnbuckles out on the floor, but he gets caught from behind by Zayn and they brawl out into the crowd. Dominik Mysterio catches a stray from Pat McAfee, who says Zayn hit Owens with Dirty Dom (it was actually a trash can).
Zayn puts Owens through two tables topped with bottles and cans near the first section of seats not on the floor. Definitely just a natural thing to have bottles and cans out on tables in an arena, heh. KO regains control using several foreign objects during the fight back toward the ring, and Zayn tries for something off the turnbuckles but gets shoved forward and somersaults through the table stack. Looks a little painful, and Wade Barrett reminds us of Zayn’s history of neck injuries.
With momentum swinging back against Owens, he moves out of the way of a Helluva Kick attempt that takes out the referee. Charles Robinson hustles down to make the count, but he feels KO’s wrath when it only gets to two. A third ref is now on the scene surveying the carnage.
Thrown chairs connect in both directions as Zayn considers something else involving a table. It turns out to be Sami who takes the fisherman’s superplex, but he kicks out at two.
Owens berates Zayn in one corner, screaming that it’s all Sami’s fault. That inspires Zayn to connect on a Helluva Kick as he follows Owens across the ring, but Owens won’t stay down for three.
Reaching under the ring for plunder, Sami seems a bit surprised to find a chair wrapped in barbed wire. That doesn’t stop him from using it across KO’s back and delivering a drop toehold that smashes Owens’ face into the wire.
A Blue Thunder Bomb onto the chair is next, but Owens kicks out and Cole is beside himself that this is continuing. That’s bad news for Zayn, who gets a chair placed around his neck and is run into the posts not once but twice. Cue some fan reaction shots.
Sami takes a powerbomb onto the apron, which is basically like a handshake between these two men. Another one follows, and Owens rolls his friend turned foe back into the ring to finally, mercifully get the pinfall.
Winner: Kevin Owens by pinfall
Not yet satisfied that he’s done enough, Owens pulls some of the padding off the floor. Just when it appears Zayn is doomed, Randy Orton’s music hits and the Viper makes his return. He slides into the ring and ends a quick exchange with an RKO. He lines up for a punt too, but the suits (including Jason Jordan and Kenny Dykstra) slide into the ring to prevent it. Four security guards/up-and-coming wrestlers end up taking RKOs of their own from Orton to finally close out the segment.
Drake and Lil Yachty sure do appear to be right behind the announce table. It is Drake’s hometown, so that makes sense. The broadcast points out Dion Dawkins of the Buffalo Bills as well.
Men’s Elimination Chamber Match
Logan Paul wastes no time trolling the fans by waving an American flag on his way to his pod. John Cena is the last man to get into one of the pods, meaning Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins will start this one out. CM Punk waves at Rollins from his pod, knowing as always he lives rent free in Seth’s head.
Punk also urges Rollins on as he smashes McIntyre’s head into his pod, but Seth can’t ride that momentum to a pinfall. Rollins takes the first big bump on the steel when he gets suplexed outside the ring. McIntyre catapults Rollins’ throat into the bottom rope and sits outside Punk’s pod, but not for long as Damian Priest is in.
Priest uses a Razor’s Edge to hurl Rollins into McIntyre, but Drew shrugs that off quickly and soon all three men are exchanging moves. Logan Paul is the next person freed from their pod, and he seems almost gleeful as he picks the bones of three competitors who are already worn down. Priest puts a stop to his fun and chokes him along the cage.
John Cena charges into his final Elimination Chamber like a man possessed, hitting Attitude Adjustments to several opponents and a Five Knuckle Shuffle to Paul. Another Attitude Adjustment hits Paul, but even though McIntyre smacks Cena with a Claymore, Priest catches Drew with a crucifix pin and keeps him down for three.
Drew McIntyre is eliminated.
Before the refs tell him to hit the showers, McIntyre takes down Priest. Paul sees an opening for a frog splash off the pod, which connects on Priest to send him packing too.
Damian Priest is eliminated.
Only Punk is left to enter, and he goes right after Paul. Michael Cole buries AEW by saying Punk hasn’t had a world title match in 12 years, which … OK yeah, trolling. Cena gets an earful from Rollins when he tries to attack Punk, with Seth screaming that CM is his. Rollins and Cena stand and slug it out, but Paul takes advantage with a double Buckshot.
A Buckshot for Punk is countered with a GTS, and that’s all she wrote for Logan.
Logan Paul is eliminated.
This is the final three a lot of people probably wanted, to be honest. Punk and Cena actually join forces to attack Rollins, giving him a Hart Attack. Cena offers a handshake but Punk hugs him instead before they start throwing hands. An exchange of counters leads to a Cena STF., which in turn leads to a Punk anaconda vice. A two count follows as Punk ponders his next move.
It turns out to be a double axhandle off the top rope to Rollins. Punk launches into a cross body off the top, but Cena catches him, hits an AA and nearly gets the three count.
Rollins is back up now, which is unfortunate for Cena as he ends up getting rammed through a wall of the pod. Punk eats a Pedigree from Rollins but kicks out at two.
A rally by Punk leads to a top rope elbow to Rollins, and he signals for another GTS. Instead he takes a buckle bomb and a Stomp, but he still manages to beat the count. When Cena rejoins the fray, Rollins takes an Attitude Adjustment, and Punk covers to make sure his arch enemy is out.
Seth Rollins is eliminated.
Wade Barrett is yelling that Rollins let his ego get in his way. Punk looks super fired up, and he grabs Cena’s extended hand to get him into a GTS. Cena kicks out and hits an AA, but Punk of course kicks out in turn.
Ah, but Rollins hasn’t left the cage yet, and he nails Punk with a Stomp as his head is between the ropes. Cena grabs Punk and locks in the STF, and when Punk fades and goes out, Cena has his final WrestleMania moment wrapped up.
Winner: John Cena
RELATED LINKS
https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2025/03/01/fans-stunned-by-cena-turn/
https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2025/03/01/fans-stunned-by-cena-turn/
https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2025/03/01/mat-matters-old-home-week-at-wwe-elimination-chamber/
