The women’s Elimination Chamber match opened the most gruesome stop on the Road to WrestleMania, and in many cases, it absolutely delivered. All six of the women in that chamber set the bar incredibly high, from Tiffany Stratton’s daredevilish leap from the chamber pod to Liv Morgan’s scrappy brawl with Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch in the final act of the match. The outfits were all on-point, Raquel Rodriguez got her time to shine after being away for so long, and Naomi has a new, hot trajectory to pursue on “WWE SmackDown”. The women’s Elimination Chamber match was so close to being perfect.

And then it was over, just like that. Really?

It’s disappointing, because just a few hours ago, I wrote about how I appreciated how unrushed Morgan vs. Stratton was on the most recent edition of “SmackDown”. I am of the personal opinion that WWE read my opinion piece, and then decided to do the complete opposite of what I just praised them for (joking, but could you imagine).

The final act of the women’s Elimination Chamber match, between Belair, Morgan, and Lynch, was almost cinematic in its beauty. There was counter after counter, near fall after near fall. My heart was in my throat, and for a moment, I forgot about all of the WrestleMania 40 build-up that basically confirmed Lynch was going to face Ripley. It was that close, and hats off to all three women involved. They are some of the best storytellers in the game.

Morgan pinned Belair with her signature roll-up. Australia was on the edge of it seat. Then, Lynch pinned Morgan, not even two seconds after. Just like that, Lynch punched her ticket to WrestleMania.

This was a literal “blink and you’ll miss it” moment. What should have been a long, drawn out, dramatic battle between two of the most believable candidates to face Ripley at WrestleMania 40 was packaged into a two-second offense, and a three-second pin. Not even a submission! There was no momentum to the final outcome of that match. The finish felt rushed, like it was the final act of a student film when they realize that the assignment is due tomorrow. The adrenaline took a precipitous drop, because the action was so big and flamboyant one moment, and gone the next, without any time to process it or enjoy it.

That’s my real issue with the finish of this match — very few people, if anybody, could enjoy that finish. We simply did not have the time! Wrestling is all about storytelling, so what good is a story if it’s two moments in time and three moments on the ground, with no build-up between it? Brevity is the soul of the wit, yes, but there is such a thing as rushing into things without building proper anticipation for the perfect amount of catharsis.

I am also concerned as to where Morgan goes after this. Her “revenge tour” sounds just too promising to let go — it feels like the spiritual sister to Cody Rhodes needing to “finish the story”. That finish, though, was definitive in its quickness; there was no time to question the result. So, what happens to Morgan’s revenge tour now? Let’s hope the answer is not as brief and unsatisfying as the finish to this match.