WWE Elimination Chamber: It was Rhea's night, but Lynch and McIntyre punch WrestleMania tickets

PERTH, Australia -- In the center of Optus Stadium, Rhea Ripley stood alone, women's world championship held aloft. Fireworks exploded on the stage and across the venue's roof as the crowd -- her, Australian crowd -- roared its approval as she marked the retention of her title and set up a meeting with the winner of the women's Elimination Chamber match, Becky Lynch, at WrestleMania XL.

In the men's chamber, Drew McIntyre, with a major assist from an already-eliminated Logan Paul, pinned Randy Orton to set up a bout with Seth Rollins for the world Heavyweight championship. Cody Rhodes and Rollins, meanwhile, were forced to continue their story sans Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Roman Reigns on a special edition of the Grayson Waller Effect, while Finn Balor and Damian Priest retained their undisputed tag team championships against Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate in an entertaining match with a predictable outcome.

Indeed, the absence of key players such as Reigns and Johnson, as well as CM Punk's injury, meant that the evening, though still an entertaining one, was one largely devoid of surprises. Of course, this is probably a good thing for WrestleMania given it ostensibly ensures that the narratives coming into it will possess clear foundations and motivations.

Here's the highlights of the 2024 WWE Elimination Chamber:

Rhea Ripley's night

Indeed, Ripley, of Australia, defeating Nia Jax in the main event, at a show in her home country that she was the undisputed face of, with family sitting in the front row and a raucous crowd at her back, was one of the easiest predictions you could have made heading into the night. And despite it hardly being a surprise, it still was exactly what was needed.

Getting emotional during her entrance and not quite able to keep herself from bubbling over with nervous energy during the early exchanges of the match, Ripley had the crowd eating out of her hand, ending the show with pyro exploding in and around Optus Stadium, a hug with her family and Australian flags strewn across the background as she held her title aloft.

Of the match itself, she was placed in a different position, as not only was all pretense of her portraying her heel persona abandoned for the Down Under show -- not that her persona and look mean that she's booed with any kind of ferocity at the best of times -- but she was also asked to portray the less physically dominant underdog.

Doing well to sell the physical toll the contest was taking on her, she was unable to lift Jax up for a powerbomb on the outside, leading to her taking a Samoan Drop and elbow on the announce table. It ultimately set the scene for her to rally, kick out of an Annihilator, hit a Superplex and a Riptide for the finish.

Already one of the faces of the company and one of the most accomplished women in its history despite only being 27 years old, her performance in Perth and increasing momentum could possibly augur a full-blown face-turn heading into her match with Lynch.

Aussies and Australia showcased

While not every Australian on the WWE roster was able to appear on the show -- Bronson Reed revealing on social media he didn't travel so that he could be with his wife during the birth of their child -- Ripley's crowning moment was accompanied by two other Australians getting their flowers in Perth.

Melbourne-born Indi Hartwell appeared on the kickoff show as she teamed with Candice LeRae to unsuccessfully challenge the Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) while Waller -- like Ripley, nothing he could do capable of preventing him from being given a face role for the night by the Australian crowd -- received another show of faith from the WWE by being entrusted to help progress the company's main storyline with Rhodes and Rollins. And it was notable that while his tag team partner Austin Theory ate a Cody Cutter and Stomp, Waller emerged unscathed. And it was the right move -- WWE was probably aware that the top faces Rhodes and Rollins were likely to be booed if they laid hands on the Sydney-born performer.

The time zone challenges and tyranny of distance Australia is forced to compete with across most things mean that, logistically, bringing televised WWE events Down Under is a challenging endeavor. Performers headed not back to hotels following the show but straight to the airport as to make it back to San Jose in time for Monday Night Raw. But with the West Australian government investing a significant amount of money in bringing the WWE to Perth as part of its major-events-driven strategy to boost tourism, the dollars made sense.

And with WWE chief content officer Paul 'Triple H' Levesque hitting the ring before the main event, thanking the crowd, and declaring an attendance of 52,590, it was a good night for Australian wrestling.

Becky Lynch is going to Mania but it's Tiffy Time Down Under

Given their interactions at the WrestleMania 40 press conference earlier this month, Lynch was always shaping as the most likely opponent for Ripley in Philadelphia and The Man made it official on Saturday as she went coast-to-coast in the women's Elimination Chamber match. Getting things started against Naomi, the Irish-born star then ended the match by pinning Liv Morgan, hitting her with a Manhandle Slam after Morgan ha rolled up Bianca Belair following Lynch's wriggling free of an attempted KOD.

Again, though, just because it was the most obvious outcome doesn't necessarily make it the wrong one. Having already laid the groundwork, WWE has now set up arguably its two biggest female stars to face off on the biggest stage possible in what will be their first-ever one-on-one matchup on a Premium Live Event.

And importantly, the Chamber also laid the groundwork for its other competitors to have plenty of things to do in the weeks ahead. Belair's look of frustration and despair as Lynch celebrated gave her obvious possibilities with both Lynch and Morgan, and her earlier elimination of Raquel Rodriguez -- hitting her with a KOD after the latter hit an impressive double powerbomb -- opens the possibility of a program between two powerhouses. Morgan, for her part, also pinned Tiffany Stratton with a springboard flatliner off the turnbuckle, earning not safe for work chants from the crowd after eliminating the weekend's breakout performer.

In her first main roster premium live event appearance, a day after having the Australian crowd on a string at the official media event, the 24-year-old Stratton was hugely impressive in the match, including a memorable dive off the top of a pod onto a mass of opponents on the grating. So strong was the impression that she left that a "Tiffy Time" chant broke out during the men's Chamber match later in the show.

Indeed, while Lynch might be headed to WrestleMania, the future may very well prove to be Tiffy Time.

Rhodes wants The Rock

Despite the best efforts of West Australian Premier Roger Cook -- who posted a letter addressed to The Rock on social media pleading with him to head Down Under -- there was no surprise appearance on Saturday. Also absent was undisputed Universal champion Roman Reigns.

Instead, it was left to Rhodes and Rollins to take the next steps on the road to WrestleMania on a Grayson Waller effect, with a challenge subsequently laid down for a one-on-one match between Rhodes and Rock (the immediate chant of "now" from the Perth crowd falling on deaf ears). Rollins, who said he was days away from being medically cleared to compete, declared the Royal Rumble winner wouldn't face that challenge alone -- ostensibly setting up a tag match between Rhodes and Rollins on one side and Reigns and Johnson on the other at some point in the future.

In the end, without the presence of The Bloodline, the segment probably didn't live up to the hopes that the Perth crowd had coming in. After interactions with the Bloodline in recent weeks Waller did his best to serve as something of a proxy and antagonist -- asking the Perth crowd to acknowledge Reigns and blaming the US education system for Rhodes' inability to finish a story -- but as the home country favorite he couldn't provide a major villainous counterpoint to the two heroes of the piece.

McIntyre continues to roll, Paul adds more enemies

McIntyre has been on another level in recent months as he took the ball and ran with it after Punk's torn tricep at the Royal Rumble. Now he'll get the chance to capitalize against Rollins at WrestleMania. Taking the title at Mania, after his win over Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 36 came in an empty Performance Center during COVID, is probably a fitting reward for the Scot who is producing some of the best work in his career.

As Lynch had done in the women's equivalent, the 38-year-old started and ended the chamber, crawling across Orton after a brass knuckle shot from Paul -- who was pinned after an RKO out of nowhere moments prior. Indeed, McIntyre, in keeping with his newfound heel persona, was quick to take advantage of others misfortune in Perth: eliminating Bobby Lashley with a Claymore after he was unable to lock in a Hurt Lock on LA Knight (Lashley, who also received a chant of thanks for spearing Paul through a pod, was selling the arm injury inflicted by Karrion Kross from the pre-taped Smackdown the night before) and then eliminating Knight after he was beaten down by AJ Styles, who interfered with a chair that he eventually delivered a Styles Clash to.

In general, the match had a more violent feel than that of the women's Chamber, with the pods, chain and grating seeing more use as a weapon. But it was a slower burn which lacked the same degree of highlights or breakout performer like Stratton. That said, Paul now looks to be locked in to clash with both Orton as well as Kevin Owens, at least, in the build-up to WrestleMania. Knight, too, will zero in on a match with Styles, while the program between Lashley's Hurt Business and Kross' Final Testament faction can add another wrinkle.

Another of the key storylines from the match that will likely play out in the weeks ahead was Orton's back, which, just months on from his return from spinal fusion surgery at Survivor Series, he sold beautifully. Indeed, while McIntyre will move on to a title match, the Chamber was another reminder that not only is Orton one of the WWE's most popular stars, he's also one of the best to ever do it.