The ending of WWE Elimination Chamber was a memorable moment for all of professional wrestling

Many didn’t get the victory that they wanted at the end of Elimination Chamber, but that main event was one of the most memorable from WWE in recent years. 

The outcome of Elimination Chamber was a masterclass in professional wrestling storytelling. The angle started out as a joke with Sami Zayn pestering his way into The Bloodline and ended with a match that keeps the story going, but truly shined a light on everyone involved. In totality, this will be a professional wrestling “moment” that fans will remember.

There are a series of moments that fans will remember across all professional wrestling. Hulk Hogan body-slammed Andre the Giant. Ron Simmons defeated Vader to become the first recognized Black champion. Hulk Hogan’s turn on Macho Man to join the Outsiders and form the NWO. Brock Lesnar being the man to end The Undertaker’s WrestleMania win streak. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair as the first Black wrestlers to headline WrestleMania. Each one of these moments hangs in the minds of professional wrestling viewers, and many will point to them as reasons why they are fans in the first place.

Zayn pointed out the importance of those moments during the post-show conference after the PLE:

“The bar has been raised. Being good is not good enough anymore. The harder thing to do in the age of content is to do something memorable,” Zayn said. “If I may be so bold to toot our own horn, I think we walked away from this story with so many memorable TV segments that people will remember five, ten years down the road. I hope that Montreal ovation is one of those.”

The Montreal ovation will be one of those moments. The Trial of Sami Zayn will be one of those moments. Zayn slamming the steel chair into Roman Reigns’s back, then turning to apologize to Jey Uso will be one of those moments. Everything that comes after Elimination Chamber, while predictable, will also be more additions to those moments that fans will remember.

Fans watch professional wrestling for a variety of reasons. Some are enthralled by the athletic skill it takes to pull off the maneuvers these stars do multiple times a week. Some watch for the dramatic, soap opera angles that can wind from week to week. Regardless of which, both come with a level of predictability that keeps viewers tuned in nightly. The Bloodline angle has achieved to do this to date, at a time when many believed WWE lost its ability to tell engrossing stories. Zayn and everyone involved should “toot their own horns” at that fact.

While the outcome wasn’t perfect and broke the hearts of millions of fans, this portion of The Bloodline arc has been a memorable story and one of the best told across professional wrestling this generation.