WWE Elimination Chamber 2018: Analysing and grading each match and segment

The final WWE Raw-exclusive pay-per-view before WrestleMania 34, Elimination Chamber, took place in Las Vegas, Nevada on 25 February 2018.

For the first time in WWE history, there was a seven-man Chamber match, with Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, The Miz, Elias, John Cena, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins battling it out to determine a #1 contender for the Universal title.

In the women’s division, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose and Mickie James attempted to win the Raw Women’s title from Alexa Bliss in the first female Chamber match, while Nia Jax fought undefeated women’s Royal Rumble winner Asuka.

Matt Hardy vs Bray Wyatt, Titus Worldwide vs Cesaro & Sheamus and The Club vs The Miztourage (kickoff) was also on the card, while MMA megastar Ronda Rousey was in attendance to officially sign her Raw contract.

In this article, we analyse every match and segment on the show.

#1 The Club def. The Miztourage (kickoff show)

Storyline: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson turned face on the New Year’s Day episode of Raw, reuniting with former Bullet Club buddy Finn Balor. Since then, they have been involved in multiple matches with The Revival, so it was a surprise when WWE announced that they would face The Miztourage at Elimination Chamber.

Match: Despite spells of dominance from Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas, it was The Club who got the win in the only kickoff show match at the event, with Anderson pinning Axel after the Magic Killer. While The Club celebrated, The Revival claimed during a backstage interview that they are the best tag team on Raw.

Verdict: With little-to-no storyline build, this kickoff show match was never going to set the world alight. The four men put on a decent match that you’d expect to see on Raw, with Gallows’ performance – and especially his ‘NERD’ chant – the biggest highlight.

Grade: C

#2 Alexa Bliss wins six-woman Elimination Chamber (Raw Women's title)

The first-ever women's Chamber match kicked off the main show

Storyline: Alexa Bliss was forced to put her title on the line in the first women’s Elimination Chamber match, with the historic six-woman battle effectively being made up of three duos (Sasha Banks & Bayley, Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose, and the recently reunited Mickie James & Alexa).

Match: Absolution duo Sonya and Mandy controlled the early stages against Bayley, only for Sasha to enter and make Mandy tap. Mickie then entered, pinning Sonya after leaping from the top of a pod, but she was quickly eliminated by Bayley. Then, after briefly aligning to target Alexa, Sasha turned against Bayley. With every woman fighting for herself, Alexa eliminated Bayley with a roll-up and pinned Sasha after a vicious DDT to retain her title.

Verdict: Alexa was brilliant throughout – from her pre-match mannerisms and in-ring performance to her post-match face/heel promo – while the story between Sasha and Bayley was told to absolute perfection. Simply put, the first women’s Chamber match couldn’t have gone any better.

Grade: A+

#3 The Bar def. Titus Worldwide (Raw Tag Team titles)

It was a comfortable win for Sheamus and Cesaro

Storyline: Titus O’Neil and Apollo have won three non-title matches against Sheamus and Cesaro on Raw in 2018, with their only opportunity at the Raw Tag Team titles – the night after the Royal Rumble – ending in defeat. After their latest win on this week’s Raw, they challenged The Bar to another title match.

Match: The Bar attacked Titus and Apollo before the match even started. While the challengers were on top for stages of the encounter, they never seriously looked like getting the win and The Bar were able to retain when Cesaro pinned Apollo after a double-team move with Sheamus.

Verdict: Like the kickoff show match between The Club and The Miztourage, this was another decent showing from two of Raw’s tag teams. However, the bar (pun kind of intended) was set incredibly high when it comes to PPV tag matches in 2017 and this match fell short of those lofty heights.

Grade: C

#4 Asuka def. Nia Jax

Storyline: With six women already confirmed for the Elimination Chamber match, Kurt Angle announced that Nia Jax would be added to the Raw Women’s title match at WrestleMania 34 if she could beat the undefeated Asuka, who has already guaranteed herself a title opportunity at 'Mania by winning the Royal Rumble.

Match: With Asuka unable to lock in her usual submission moves on the much larger and powerful Nia Jax, she rolled up her opponent with a unique pinfall to pick up the 1-2-3 after an entertaining back-and-forth encounter. Following the match, Nia attacked the victorious “Empress of Tomorrow” and sent her crashing through the ringside barricade.

Verdict: From start to finish, this match was fascinating. It seemed obvious beforehand that Asuka would win but there were moments during the match that made it seem like Nia really could produce an upset. This was the best one-on-one women’s PPV match for a long time. The only disappointment is that it felt like it could have gone on much longer.

Grade: B+

#5 "Woken" Matt Hardy def. Bray Wyatt

Storyline: Matt Hardy had somewhat of a breakdown after losing to Bray Wyatt in November 2017. The two have since appeared in various backstage segments, with Hardy vowing to “delete” his rival and Bray simply dismissing his opponent as a “madman”. Bray was victorious again when the two met at Raw 25, while they eliminated each other from the Royal Rumble.

Match: Before the match, Hardy sang his ‘Obsolete’ song for the first time on WWE television, with his “Woken Warriors” singing along with him. However, during the match, which Hardy won with a Twist of Fate, the majority of the crowd was distracted by a beach ball.

Verdict: The build to this match went on far too long, so it’s not surprising that the crowd hijacked it with a beach ball and “Rusev Day” chants. The match itself was good, as you’d expect, but it felt like nothing more than a standard Raw mid-card encounter.

Grade: C

#6 Ronda Rousey contract signing

Storyline: MMA legend Ronda Rousey appeared at the end of the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match and pointed to the WrestleMania sign. It has since been confirmed that she will be a full-time member of the Raw roster, with her official contract signing taking place at Elimination Chamber.

Segment: After initially being talked up by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, Ronda was informed by Kurt Angle that the authority duo only wanted to sign her so they could “own her” as revenge for her actions at WrestleMania 31. With Kurt having been ushered away, Ronda squared up to her new bosses, throwing HHH through a table before receiving a huge slap to the face from Steph. She then signed her contract, to a chorus of cheers, before walking up the ramp.

Verdict: This segment was brilliant. After Ronda’s poor booking at the Rumble, there was massive pressure on her to deliver here, but she exceeded expectations and even won over a raucous Las Vegas crowd that initially booed her. She started the segment as a smiley WWE fan and ended it looking like “the baddest woman on the planet”. The road to WrestleMania just got its most compelling story.

Grade: A

#7 Roman Reigns wins seven-man Elimination Chamber

Storyline: Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, The Miz, Elias, John Cena, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins booked their places in the Universal title #1 contender match by winning qualifiers on Raw. All seven men competed in a gauntlet match last Monday, with Rollins stealing the show and Strowman emerging victorious.

Match: The gauntlet match was all about Rollins but the Elimination Chamber was all about Strowman, who eliminated five men (a new record) from the match before he was finally defeated by a double-spear from Reigns. “The Monster Among Men” threw his long-term rival through a pod post-match but ultimately failed in his goal to face “beasty boy” Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania.

Verdict: Some moments from this match will live long in the memory, especially the 30-second spell where Strowman kicked out of a quadruple powerbomb, an Attitude Adjustment and a spear. The majority of fans would rather see Lesnar “get these hands” at WrestleMania rather than get a Superman Punch and a spear, but WWE has stuck to their long-term plan and it’ll be Reigns vs. Lesnar in New Orleans.

Grade: A

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Edited by Shruti Sadbhav