Ranking Each Superstar in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match based on how likely they are to win

At Elimination Chamber 2019, the WWE Championship will be defended inside the Elimination Chamber for the first time since 2016 when the New Daniel Bryan defends his championship against the Heart of SmackDown Live Mustafa Ali, the Samoan Submission Machine Samoa Joe, the Viper Randy Orton, the Phenomenal One AJ Styles, and the Charismatic Enigma Jeff Hardy.

While all 6 superstars are viable options to walk into WrestleMania as WWE Champion, some are more likely to successfully walk into WrestleMania as WWE Champion than others. Four out of the six superstars in this match have held the WWE Championship before (Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and Jeff Hardy) while Samoa Joe and Mustafa Ali have not.

Four of these superstars have actually pinned or submitted Daniel Bryan in one type of match. AJ Styles submitted Daniel Bryan in a WWE Championship match, Samoa Joe made Daniel Bryan pass out to qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank match, Randy Orton pinned Daniel Bryan to win the WWE Championship back in 2013, and Mustafa Ali recently pinned Daniel Bryan in a tag team match.

While it would have been nice to see Andrade and Rey Mysterio get involved in this match, this match still represents six of SmackDown Live's top superstars and this will almost certainly be a great match.

#6 Mustafa Ali

Mustafa Ali is easily the rookie of this match

Mustafa Ali is the newest addition to the SmackDown Live roster since coming over from 205 Live in December. He has looked great so far and has had great matches with the likes of Daniel Bryan, Andrade and Samoa Joe.

The Heart of SmackDown Live also lasted for 30 minutes in the Royal Rumble match (only Seth Rollins lasted longer than him) and managed to eliminate top stars in Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe.

It is unlikely that WWE would trust a relative rookie in Mustafa Ali to be WWE Champion heading into WrestleMania since he has only became a member of the SmackDown Live roster since December. While he will likely have a great performance, he is unlikely to win the match.

#5 Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy is a former WWE Champion

It is pretty surprising that Jeff Hardy is in this match given the fact that he has not done much all year. He has only appeared on 2 episodes of SmackDown Live all year. However, he is a former WWE Champion so that makes it more likely that WWE trust him to be the top superstar of SmackDown Live heading into WrestleMania than someone else like Mustafa Ali.

Jeff Hardy looking to have one last main event run in his career would also be a great storyline and he arguably should eventually win the WWE Championship one last time in his career. One last match between Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship would not be the worst thing as they had a great rivalry.

However, Jeff Hardy still has no close to no chance of winning this match due to the fact that WWE has not booked him strong enough in the past few months to justify him becoming WWE Champion.

#4 Randy Orton

Randy Orton will have his first WWE Championship match in a while

Randy Orton last wrestled for the WWE Championship in July 2017 against Jinder Mahal. Since then he has been in SmackDown Live's mid card and has become one of the top heels on the SmackDown Live roster. He has delivered some of his best work in his career since turning heel last July so he definitely deserves this chance.

He will be great as this match's veteran competitor and it is definitely possible for him to become a 14-time WWE Champion. A rivalry between AJ Styles and Randy Orton that would lead to a match between the two superstars at WrestleMania 35 has been heavily rumored.

It is definitely possible that this match ends up being for the WWE Championship with Randy Orton defending the WWE Championship against AJ Styles. However, it seems much more likely that a match between the two would not be for the WWE Championship, so it is possible but not likely that Randy Orton becomes WWE Champion at Elimination Chamber.

#3 Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe has not held a title on the main roster in WWE

Samoa Joe is one of the best superstars in WWE, but for some reason he has not held a title yet. The Samoan Submission Machine is about 40 years old now so the clock is certainly ticking. Therefore, it is definitely possibly that Samoa Joe surprisingly wins the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber very similar to how Bray Wyatt won the WWE Championship back at the Elimination Chamber.

It would certainly be shocking but it would not be the worst idea. Samoa Joe can then defend the WWE Championship against many opponents including Daniel Bryan, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio, or even Randy Orton.

However, it is more likely that Samoa Joe is involved in a United States Championship match at WrestleMania 35. While Samoa Joe has a likely chance of becoming WWE Champion, it probably won't happen.

#2 AJ Styles

AJ Styles will look to win the WWE Championship for the 3rd time

AJ Styles has truly been phenomenal in WWE. He held the WWE Championship for more than a year and after that the Phenomenal One entered a feud with Daniel Bryan over the WWE Championship.

The two have had multiple great matches, and it will be interesting to see them face off with each other inside of the Elimination Chamber. It is definitely possible that WWE wants AJ Styles to head into WrestleMania 35 as WWE Champion as he did last year.

If he manages to defeat Daniel Bryan there are a multitude of opponents that he can face at WrestleMania. This list includes Daniel Bryan in another rematch (it seems like WWE wants this to be one of the great rivalries in WWE), Samoa Joe, Rey Mysterio, Andrade, Randy Orton, Mustafa Ali, Jeff Hardy, or even Shinsuke Nakamura in a rematch from last year's WrestleMania.

#1: Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan recently debuted a new WWE Championship belt.

Daniel Bryan has recently undergone a heel turn and it has been amazing. That is why he is the number one pick to win this match. He is a great in-ring technician and also has a great character.

The New Daniel Bryan has only been WWE Champion for a few months and has only faced Mustafa Ali and AJ Styles so he should be given a chance to have a longer title reign.

While it is definitely possible for one of the other superstars in this match to become WWE Champion, it will almost certainly be Daniel Bryan who walks away with the WWE Championship and walks into WrestleMania 35 as WWE Champion.

Daniel Bryan can then defend his title against many superstars including AJ Styles, Mustafa Ali, Samoa Joe, Andrade, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, or Shinsuke Nakamura. Daniel Bryan's WWE Championship reign is certainly not over.