Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially on the road to Elimination Chamber, and WWE has decided to throw all sense of workplace safety out the window. That’s right, folks—Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are set to go one-on-one in an Unsanctioned Match, which is WWE’s way of saying, “Look, if someone dies, that’s not on us.”
The drama unfolded on Monday Night Raw when Sami Zayn hit the ring to update fans on his neck, which recently played the role of a crash test dummy thanks to a Kevin Owens package piledriver. But instead of saying something sensible like, “Hey, I’ll be taking six months off,” Zayn went full action-movie protagonist and demanded a fight. Because what’s a little spinal trauma between lifelong frenemies?
Enter Raw General Manager Adam Pearce, a man who still has some regard for human life. Pearce initially refused to sanction the match because, well, he didn’t want to get sued. But after watching Zayn throw the adult equivalent of a toddler tantrum in the middle of the ring, Pearce finally caved and made the match official—just with the classic legal disclaimer: “Do what you want, but don’t put my name on it.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Owens has yet to publicly respond to the announcement, but let’s be honest—his reaction will probably be something along the lines of “Good. I was planning to fight him whether WWE liked it or not.”
So, here we are. Two best friends. Two Canadian legends. One fight that WWE refuses to take responsibility for. Grab your popcorn and maybe a neck brace in solidarity—because Elimination Chamber just got a whole lot more dangerous.