The long road to WrestleMania climaxed in exhilarating style on Saturday night when Perth hosted the spectacular WWE Elimination Chamber in front of a frenzied crowd of more than 50,000 fans, with millions more fight fanatics tuned in around the world.
There were chants, boos and roars of applause as bulked-up athletes had their hair pulled and faces kicked while they worked the canvas.
Perth showed up to witness one for the history books at Optus Stadium with 52,590 people relishing the action. They were spread from the ringside seats to the nosebleeds spots high up in the stands.
The crowd included 14,000 devotees from outside WA, and plenty of passionate parents taking their kids along for the wildest of rides.
An early highlight was when footage of The Rock appeared on the giant screen, giving fans a taste of what could have been.
The atmosphere was electric and the women’s chamber event saw fiery redhead Becky Lynch take out her competition with ease, forcing Bianca Belair, Tiffany Stratton and Naomi to the floor as she delivered blow after blow.
Now she’s on her way to the women’s world championship.
It was fireworks during the men’s tag team championship when Dominik Mysterio was hit across the face.
The triumphant pair of Damian Priest and Finn Balor claimed the belt.
Logan Paul, Drew McIntyre, LA Knight, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley and Kevin Owens took the six-man Elimination Chamber match to determine who will fight Seth Rollins for the WWE Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania.
The crowd was instantly in approval when Logan Paul was thrown through one of Chamber pods by the muscular Lashley.
McIntyre won the top gong for the men’s chamber after taking out Orton and is now set to face Rollins in April. The moment the crowd had been waiting
![News. WWE Elimination Chamber at Optus Stadium in Perth. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: The Judgment Day [Finn Balor and Damian Priest] (c)](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-13715193/f53bf8694a3dae1d01ddc6d0f2ba15360cc5e9f1.jpg?imwidth=1024&impolicy=wan_v3)
But all the chaos that unfolded throughout the early bouts pointed towards the main event — when Australian darling Rhea ‘MAMI’ Ripley and contender Nia Jax faced off for the women’s belt.
The Australian spirit was in full force when Adelaide-born Ripley took to the ring to close out the night.
After being thrown onto the commentators’ table by Jax, Ripley did her home country proud by putting an end to her opponent.
Ripley called on the baying Perth crowd to throw their support behind her before she landed her signature Riptide move.
Jax was pinned and Australia had a brand new icon.
Ripley immediately rushed to loved ones and fans in the crowd as she raised her Women’s Championship belt high and proud.
At times the event was filled with comedy and soap-opera acting, but the spectacular costumes and extravagant fit-out of the Elimination Chamber proved to Perth that WWE is big business.
The chamber is described as one of the sport’s most brutal exhibitions — where the ring is surrounded by a large cage wrapped in chains that athletes are slammed against.
Four pods, with an athlete inside each one, surrounded the ring. Once each door flew open and the fighters faced off, choke-holds become the method of choice.
Perth was locked and loaded for every twist and turn over the three-hour event, with fans decked out in WWE merchandise, holding personalised signs and dressing up as their favourite wrestlers.
Long-time fan Jon Atterill has followed the sport since the 1980s and was proud to share the experience with his boys on Saturday night.
Rock and Logan — apt names for wrestling fans — were lucky enough to meet stars Bianca Belair, Drew McIntyre and Grayson Waller through their Telethon-supported foundation and were pumped to be there.
“We’re so fortunate this is in Perth, the kids think it’s normal because of all the action around here,” Mr Atterill said.
Cheryl and Millie Fraser, massive fans of “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, hoped the show would be more about Rhodes, but feared all the hype about The Rock had disrupted everything.
“The show is supposed to be about Cody Rhodes and Bloodline on the road to Wrestlemania,” Cheryl said.
“The Rock’s (potential) presence threw it all into chaos!”
The audience was glued throughout — playing along with the action and the storylines that wrestling personalities have kept alive for years.
Fans filled seats hours before matches began — embracing talk from commentators about wrestling outfits and how “dangerous” the sport truly is.
It was a disappointment when The Rock failed to appear in person but his cameo on Instagram during the week seemed to do enough to draw more people into the crowd.
Outside the stadium, Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said the event was set to reach more than “one billion people” in “165 countries” which will be bolstered by WWE’s media might across its various social platforms.