JEDDAH: Saturday night in Jeddah’s SuperDome marked the first WWE Elimination Chamber to be held in the Kingdom, and the first to be held outside the US since the event launched in 2002.
With anticipation and enthusiasm, more than 8,000 wrestling fans watched as WWE star Brock Lesnar was crowned champion of the Elimination Chamber.
It was an evening of fireworks, indoors and outside, and thousands of people shouting and chanting the names of their favorite wrestlers.
“We want Riddle!” “This is awesome!” “We want more!” “You go Queen!”
People stood on their seats, holding up signs to cheer on their champions. Some were supportive, others were mocking.
There were even babies in the front row.
Narmeen Ahmed, came all the way from Bahrain with her sister to enjoy the match. She told Arab News: “The match was great, we loved it, it was really worth it.”
Austin Theory was the last survivor among the other six wrestlers who tried to run away from defeat, but Lesnar caught him with an “F5” hit from the top of the Elimination Chamber to seal his victory.
The “F5” is a face-busting wrestling move where the person’s face is put on the ground followed by their body.
At the start of the match, Bobby Lashley was injured after Seth Rollins threw Theory into Lashley’s room to cause a violent collision and break the glass on Lashley. Lashley was, as a result, eliminated from the chamber and could not defend his title.
The match had seven different confrontations for the stars, the most prominent of which was the Universal Championship match in which Roman Reigns achieved a landslide over Bill Goldberg.
Drew McIntyre was the champion of the “Falls Count Anywhere” match, after defeating Madcap Moss.
The spectacle also featured women’s wrestling, gathering together the biggest names in WWE, including Naomi and Ronda Rousey against Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville, which ended with Naomi and Rousey winning, despite her having one of her hands tied behind her back.
Lita fought Becky Lynch, who won the Raw Women’s Championship title.
Bianca Belair beat all the female wrestlers after amazing the audience with her outstanding and entertaining performance.
There was a strong interaction with the audience, which was made up of families who were attending with their kids in the front row, teenagers, and international visitors, as well as people who were watching it on screen through a livestream.
Audience members reached out to touch the wrestlers as they walked by. They took selfies with them, and the wrestlers entertained everyone with their poses.
Khalid Al-Saied, one of the Saudi audience members, described himself as an old fan.
He attended with his 11-year-old son. “I am here today with my son to enjoy the Elimination Chamber show. I am always keen to attend all WWE matches happening in Jeddah, I have attended them all.”
His son Alwaleed said that his favorite WWE wrestler was Ricochet.
Rital Linjany, 12, came with her parents and brother and she was thrilled by what she saw. “I loved the girls’ wrestling part the most. I can’t wait for the upcoming WWE matches."
Kareem Saduldin, an 18-year-old at King Abdulaziz University, said: “The wrestlers, the fireworks, everything's amazing and well organized. I came as I am a big fan of Seth Rollins. However, I was so disappointed by his performance.”
Ibrahim Mohammed, an 18-year-old student at Waad Academy, said he was a big fan of The Undertaker. “It was amazing, the Elimination Chamber was different from all the other WWE matches that I have attended.”
