Sami Zayn came within a fraction of a second of ending Roman Reigns' dominant run.
However, when the final bell sounded at WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada on Saturday night, the "Tribal Chief" remained being acknowledged as king. Reigns will now advance to WrestleMania in April to clash with Cody Rhodes, the winner of the 2023 Royal Rumble.
After several close calls that could have gone either way, things took a dramatic turn when Reigns backed his way into Zayn, squashing the referee in the corner. Zayn blasted Reigns with the Helluva Kick and would have gotten the pinfall victory had an official been present. That absence gave the opening for Jimmy Uso to interfere with a Superkick and Uso Splash on Zayn. Despite the onslaught, Zayn somehow managed to kick out to his Montreal hometown crowd's delight.
Moments later, after a second ref got knocked out, Jey Uso emerged and stood between Reigns, who had a steel chair in hand, and Zayn. Wanting to test Jey's loyalty to The Bloodline, Reigns handed him the chair. But as Jey hesitated, Reigns mushed him in the face in disgust. The moment created the opening for Zayn to recover enough to try a spear on Reigns, however, the champ swiftly moved out the way and the move dropped Jey instead. Reigns then punished Zayn with several chair shots and crumpled him with a spear to retain his crown.
Kevin Owens would save Zayn from post-match punishment, laying waste to both Reigns and Jimmy Uso in the process. KO then left a groggy Reigns in the corner of the ring for Zayn to finish with a Helluva Kick.
Here's how the entire WWE Elimination Chamber 2023: Reigns vs. Zayn went.