Elimination Chamber 2019: Rating Every Match On The Main Card

The Elimination Chamber took place on 17 February 2019, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The PPV was named after the Elimination Chamber – a match in which 6 participants compete inside a dangerous steel structure.

Every Elimination Chamber PPV features at least one of its matches inside the steel structure. This year was no different. There were two Elimination Chamber matches on the card – one for the Women’s Tag Team Championship and other for the WWE Championship.

This year, WWE seemed to completely overlook the PPV and were more focused on this year’s WrestleMania. Hence, a lot of the matches on the card weren’t built up properly. For example, the RAW Women’s Championship match featuring Ronda Rousey and Ruby Riott was completely overlooked. Even the Women’s Tag Team Championship wasn’t hyped up like it should’ve been considering the fact that this was a history making match.

While all this affected some of the matches on the card, WWE still managed to impress. The PPV on a whole wasn’t as bad as expected and with a little bit more effort, this could’ve been a pretty awesome show.

We’ve taken the time to go through all the matches on the main card and offer our ratings. Each match is rated based on various factors like longevity, excitement, predictability, and in-ring action.

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Match #1: Women’s Elimination Match

Winner: The Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection

Rating: 3.5/5

Sasha Banks and Bayley

There was a lot of expectations surrounding this match considering that it would crown the first-ever Women’s Tag Team Champions and it exceeded all those expectations. The match itself was quite good and enjoyable.

Sasha Banks and Bayley started the match against Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. The Riott Squad entered the chamber at number 3, The IIconics entered at number 4 followed by Naomi and Carmella, and Nia Jax and Tamina.

There were a couple of good spots in the match and WWE built on its already existing storyline from SmackDown Live when Naomi got a bit of sweet revenge on Mandy Rose who was trying to have an extramarital affair with Naomi’s husband – Jimmy Uso.

Soon after she got her revenge, she was pinned via a double rollup from the IIconics and her team was the first team eliminated.

Once Nia Jax and Tamina entered the match, they cleaned house. This resulted in the IIconics locking themselves in a pod. But Nia and Tamina broke open the pods and started swinging The IIconics against the steel chains like a pair of baseball bats. This was really fun to watch and was something we hadn’t seen before.

There were a couple of traditional spots you would expect to see in an Elimination Chamber match. One such spot was when The Riott Squad climbed on top of a pod and they just jumped onto Nia Jax, Mandy Rose, and Sonya Deville.

The Riott Squad were eliminated after a Samoan Drop from Nia Jax followed by a splash from Tamina. Later on in the match, Nia drove herself through the pod. This resulted in all the other participants ganging up on Tamina to eliminate them.

It finally came down to the two teams that started the match. Sasha Banks and Bayley picked up the win after making Sonya Deville tap out to the Bank Statement.

Match #2: Shane McMahon and The Miz Vs. The Usos

Winner: The Usos

Rating: 3/5

Shane McMahon hits the leap of faith elbow on Jey Uso

This was The Miz and Shane McMahon’s first title defense since they won the Tag Team Titles at the Royal Rumble PPV. The match was quick and exciting to watch. Considering this was a Shane McMahon match, there were some pretty dangerous spots involved.

After getting the hot tag from The Miz, Shane McMahon proceeded to hit consecutive coast to coasts on the Usos. While he hit the first coast to coast on Jimmy Uso, he was met with a superkick by Jey Uso while attempting the second one.

Miz performed a unique springboard double axe handle which surprised him. Another dangerous spot in the match was when Shane McMahon hit a leap of faith elbow on Jey Uso through the announcer’s table.

The finish of this match was a bit weird though. Miz hit a Skull Crushing Finale on Jimmy Uso. But while attempting a pinfall, Jimmy Uso countered into a pinfall of his own. Thus, The Usos walked away as Tag Team Champs.

The result was good because now this also means that we may get to see The Miz Vs. Shane McMahon at WrestleMania.

Match #3: Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush Vs. Finn Balor

Winner: Finn Balor

Rating: 2.75/5

Finn Balor hits the Coup de Grace on Lio Rush

This match was quite predictable from the start. We all know that Bobby Lashley does not need anyone’s help to defeat a man half his size, so it was quite obvious that Finn Balor would get the win by pinning Lio Rush. This was probably done to protect Bobby Lashley.

The match was slow paced because Lashley dominated Balor with his slow methodical offense throughout the match. Surprisingly, he even tagged Lio in the match a couple of times. Lio Rush would enter the match, throw a couple of punches and tag himself out.

However, things went downhill when Lio Rush tagged himself into the match. He attempted a splash but missed badly. This gave Balor the much needed advantage. Balor wasted no time as he dropkicked Rush into the corner and hit his Coup de Grace to win the Intercontinental Championship.

After the match was over, Lashley attacked Lio Rush.

Match #4: Ronda Rousey Vs. Ruby Riott

Winner: Ronda Rousey

Rating: 0.5/5

Becky Lynch attacking Charlotte Flair while Ronda Rousey looks on

To begin with, this match should have never taken place. WWE completely overlooked Ruby Riott. There was absolutely no build up to this match and WWE did nothing to promote this match. In fact, they all seemed more focused on the bigger match that would take place at WrestleMania.

What resulted was a haphazardly put together match. This match was an absolute squash match. In fact, it took Ronda Rousey just 1 minute and 40 seconds to submit Ruby Riott. Ruby Riott never got any offense going for her and was just buried.

If WWE weren’t interested in the match, they should’ve never let it take place. After the match was over, Charlotte, who was at ringside, got into the ring for a staredown with Ronda Rousey. They were soon joined by Becky Lynch who was on crutches. ‘The Man’ then attacked Charlotte with those crutches. She even asked Ronda Rousey to do the same.

Lynch laid waste to both women before being escorted out of the arena by security. While the match was horrible, the post-match incident that took place was one of the best things of the entire PPV.

Match #5: Braun Strowman Vs. Baron Corbin

Winner: Baron Corbin

Rating: 2.5/5

Drew McIntyre hits Braun Strowman with a Claymore kick

This match didn’t need to take place at this PPV as it felt like any match you would have on RAW or Smackdown Live. It just seems like this rivalry has already gotten quite stale. As soon as the stipulation for the match was announced, we all knew how it would end. The match itself was average. Braun Strowman hit a running power slam on Baron Corbin putting him through a table in the process.

However, he was attacked by Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley. It didn’t take long for Drew McIntyre to hit the Claymore kick before the trio drove Strowman through two tables with a triple powerbomb.

It seemed almost as if WWE didn’t want Strowman to win but they didn’t want to lose clean. It felt repetitive and boring. I don’t know what WWE was thinking when they booked this match as it wasn’t as exciting as a NO DQ match should've been.

Match #6: Men’s Elimination Chamber Match

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Rating: 4/5

AJ Styles hit a phenomenal forearm on Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe started the match followed by Kofi Kingston (number 3), AJ Styles (number 4), Jeff Hardy (number 5), and Randy Orton (number 6). This match exceeded all expectations. There were a lot of good spots in the match and it was quite exciting to watch.

At one point in the match, Kofi did a freefall off the structure and landed on Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan. We also got to see Styles perform his trademark moonsault DDT to Kofi and Bryan at the same time.

The match had its fair share of innovative spots. One such spot was when AJ Styles hit his phenomenal forearm on Daniel Bryan who was trying to climb the steel structure. However, WWE decided that they would eliminate Samoa Joe first from the match. Joe was eliminated when Styles hit the phenomenal forearm.

Jeff Hardy hit an innovative Swanton Bomb from the top of the pod onto AJ Styles who was lying across the turnbuckle. However, he was immediately met with a running knee strike from Daniel Bryan who got the pinfall.

Styles was eliminated after he was hit with an RKO outta nowhere while he was attempting to hit the phenomenal forearm. Orton tried to RKO Kofi Kingston but Kofi countered into a Trouble in Paradise and pinned Orton.

It was now down to Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston. This is where this match took off. I love the fact that they gave Kofi his time to shine in this match especially against the WWE Champion. There were many moments when you thought that Kofi would actually walk away as champion.

However, in the end, Daniel Bryan pinned Kofi after hitting a running knee strike. This match showed us that Kofi is one of the best talents on the roster and he may soon be getting a major singles push which would be great to watch.