WWE announced their return to Australia this week, with news of a Premium Live Event coming Down Under for a pay per view in 2024.
In September 2023, the company announced that Elimination Chamber 2024 will take place in at Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia, on Saturday, February 24, 2024. This will be the first PLE in Australia (or the continent in general) since the 2018 show Super Show Down.
However, while Super Show Down was more like a giant house show, this time WWE will take cues from Clash at the Castle and Backlash 2023 and making a show dedicated to Australian culture, with its many stars in tow.
Despite releasing Aussie star Emma last month, there are still some huge stars from the country still plying their trade in the WWE. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley is from Australia, as is the supreme talker Grayson Waller. Expect them to have big things happen on the show, with Waller rumored to be facing John Cena at the event, following their recent confrontation.
With these two big stars ready to take over their home country once again, the stage is set for Elimination Chamber 2024 to be one of the biggest WWE PLE’s ever – but the return of the Brisbane Cup could help make it even bigger.
WWE’s The Brisbane Cup
The Brisbane Cup is a now-defunct trophy that was competed for at WWE house shows in Australia between 2006 and 2011.
The trophy was put up for grabs in a series of battle royals – similar to the Royal Rumble match – exclusively at house shows in Brisbane, Australia. The winner was awarded a small trophy to signify their victory, after throwing out a select number (usually 19) of other men to win the battle royal.
You can see a photo of CM Punk with the famed Brisbane Cup down below.
However, it is not just the cup that the winner walks away with. Later in the night, the Brisbane Cup winner faced off against the World Champion at the time, having earned that match by winning the battle royal.
Sadly, the winner of the Brisbane Cup never went on to win the title that night. The reasons can be put down to them already being tired after outlasting 19 other men in the battle royal, although house shows rarely ever see title changes occurring.
Five different Brisbane Cups’ have been competed for in the WWE, with five distinct winners. These winners are:
- 2006: Mark Henry (Lost to World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle later that night)
- 2007: Jeff Hardy (Lost to WWE Champion Randy Orton later that night)
- 2009: John Cena (Lost to WWE Champion Randy Orton later that night)
- 2010: Big Show (Lost to World Heavyweight Champion Kane later that night)
- 2011: CM Punk (Lost to WWE Champion John Cena later that night)
WWE Should Bring Back The Brisbane Cup For Elimination Chamber 2024
While Elimination Chamber 2024 is not taking place in Brisbane, the concept of the Brisbane Cup could be a fantastic addition to the Australian premium live event.
With the event broadcasting from Perth, a quick name change to The Perth Cup (although WWE could retain the trophies name for historical reasons), but keeping the concept of the battle royal winner facing the world champion later that night would give many WWE superstars the chance to appear on the show that otherwise wouldn’t.
With the WWE now having two different World Champions (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns), there is ample chance to have one of them leave their title match open for the winner of the Brisbane Cup battle royal.
It would also give the winner of the cup an excuse to lose later that night, without hurting them. They were already tired from winning the battle royal, so being forced to wrestle again that night is a good excuse for them to lose.
This is similar to what happened to Daniel Bryan at Elimination Chamber 2021, when he won the chamber match, only to go on to lose to Roman Reigns immediately following the match (which only helped fans absolute hate Roman Reigns even more).
The Brisbane Cup has an impressive lineage, with the five former winners all being former Hall of Famers. This could be used by a heel to brag about his achievement, comparing himself to his fellow legends despite not achieving half of what they have.
Whether it be the Brisbane Cup, the Perth Cup or simply a batt;e royal for a title shot (whether that night or at a later date), it would be a fantastic historical addition to the first Australian PLE from the WWE in six years.