Elimination Chamber 2019: 3 things that should not have happened

Elimination Chamber is in the books and all in all, it was a solid pay-per-view. We got two really good Chamber matches, with three title changes to begin the show with a bang. There was certainly more good than bad here.

The length of the show was an important thing, with the show going for a little over three hours. Overall, the show was a success. However, there were some baffling booking decisions made by WWE that prevented the Elimination Chamber from being a truly fantastic pay-per-view.

Some of it may be nitpicky, but there are a couple of resounding ones. This proves that WWE still needs to change a few more things. On the whole, the company is moving in the right creative direction and this WrestleMania is gearing up to be one of the most exciting ones ever. Despite that, a few lingering issues still need to be cleared, especially one that has been going on for months now. It truly is frustrating.

Here are three moments at Elimination Chamber that should not have happened.

#3 Samoa Joe is eliminated early

Samoa Joe started off the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match with Daniel Bryan, doing some of his impressive stuff as the match progressed. After Kofi Kingston and AJ Styles entered the bout, Joe would be pinned after Kofi reversed the Coquina Clutch and a Phenomenal Forearm from Styles.

He was the first man eliminated, which was slightly disappointing considering the amount of damage he could have done later on. He was gone even before Jeff Hardy made it out of his pod.

It is a minor issue, especially since the match was really good, but one would feel that Joe's time in the match was a bit too short. Hardy would have made for a more sensible choice to be the first one out, but that may have been a bit too predictable.

A better way to eliminate the former two-time NXT Champion and keep him relatively string would have been for him to eat multiple finishers, culminating with a Swanton Bomb from the top of the pod.

#2 Ronda Rousey squashes Ruby Riott

When the match between Ronda Rousey and Ruby Riott was announced for Elimination Chamber, people were expecting a semi-competitive match and a decent showing from the leader of the Riott Squad. She even got a decisive victory over Nikki Cross, who should be featured much more honestly, in the buildup to this match. It could have been a big night in the career of Riott. Unfortunately, that was not what happened.

The focus was mainly on Charlotte Flair sitting at ringside and the eventual post-match antics, including Becky Lynch's appearance. In all that, Ruby was handed the short end of the stick as she got decisively dismantled by Ronda Rousey in surprising fashion.

The match was over in about 100 seconds and so was Ruby Riott's chances of making it as a possible semi-main event player in WWE's women's division. A slightly more competitive 5-minute match would have been much, much better for her.

#1 Baron Corbin beats Braun Strowman

Three months ago, Raw ended with Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley standing tall over all the babyfaces. Those days brought the lowest Raw ratings in history. Now, these three are standing tall over Braun Strowman again.

This continues the never-ending saga of Raw's boring and repetitive midcard. The same matches are recycled over and over again, with the same people in them. Strowman has had it tough ever since he turned heel on Roman Reigns.

Failing this Money in the Bank cash-in, followed by a damaging defeat to Brock Lesnar and an elbow surgery really dealt a massive blow to his momentum. His feud with Corbin still limps on and now, he got pinned by the former general manager of Raw.

The babyfaces did not even come out to help him. While Finn Balor is finally soaring, the Monster might never be able to recover from the mess he was put in for months. Things need to change and fast.