WWE Elimination Chamber 2018 Review: Most Important Moments of the PPV

The 2018 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view is in the rearview mirror and it's time for us to take a look back at what transpired and what will have the biggest influences on WWE programming going forward.

As with any event, there are some elements which are just not important to the grand scheme of things, and this show had its fair share of those moments.

This is why you won't be seeing Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt recapped or a breakdown of how The Miztourage lost to The Good Brothers.

However, since this is an event that specifically helps set up WrestleMania, there were a few segments which have implications that are going to be huge in the coming months.

With all that being said, here is a rundown of the five most important moments of the Elimination Chamber 2018.

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#5 Asuka stays undefeated, but Jax strikes back

Asuka may have won the match, but Nia Jax was the one walking out at her own accord.

Whether they were stuck in a loop, someone copied off of somebody else's paper, or WWE's creative team just couldn't think of anything better than doing the same thing twice on this show, there were two moments where someone lost a match and attacked their opponent afterwards in order to remain looking strong.

The first of the night was when Asuka was able to pin Nia Jax, who then tackled her through a security barricade in frustration.

This is because had Jax been victorious, she would have entered the Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania, but with the quick pin, she fell short of that goal.

There are two reasons this is important, with the first being that Asuka's undefeated streak is sticking around and she will likely hold that record into WrestleMania.

The second is that Jax is clearly not finished with Asuka and may still somehow find herself in title contention, particularly if Asuka were to opt to challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship instead.

This could be a case of WWE booking themselves into a corner without thinking ahead of time and then trying to do whatever is necessary to set up Asuka vs. Flair and still have Jax look dominant and be a challenger on the Raw side, while not upsetting the streak.

#4 Alexa Bliss retains the Raw Women's Championship

And still your Raw women's champion, Alexa Bliss

Just as it is important to establish a challenger, there is no title match without the champion.

In the case of the Raw Women's Championship Elimination Chamber, it was Alexa Bliss who walked into the cage with the title and was able to successfully retain it against her five opponents.

Five Feet of Fury may have been the underdog as far as size, but she has the best overall credibility in terms of important wins when compared to the other competitors and she proved in this match that she can be resourceful enough to find a way to keep that belt.

There's virtually no way she will drop the title at this point until WrestleMania itself, so this sets her up to be in the Raw Women's Championship match at the biggest show of the year, no matter who she ends up facing.

#3 Ronda Rousey signs her contract

Ronda Rousey takes out Triple H at Elimination Chamber 2018

Admittedly, this sounds stupid, as it should have been just an actual contract signing of a sheet of paper and then some happy faces.

In WWE, though, contract signings mean disputes and somebody going through the table.

While this whole segment was incredibly predictable in every sense of the word to anybody who has ever watched wrestling more than a short amount of time, that doesn't negate its importance.

The quality or execution of a segment can hurt the momentum going forward, but the point of it all remains the same: this was meant to set up a mixed tag team match between Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, and it did just that.

In one quick swoop, Triple H and Stephanie's goals to get back at Rousey were outed, Angle proved that his loyalty is not to The Authority but to the job and the babyface performers and the like, and Rousey made an impact by taking out Triple H.

If you didn't see this one coming, you were probably shocked and pumped. If you did see it coming, you either yawned like I did, or you were still super happy with the outcome.

In any fashion, this is going to be one of the most heavily promoted matches of WrestleMania's card, so get used to seeing this footage over and over and over again.

#2 Braun Strowman proves his dominance

Braun Strowman leaves his opponents in a wake of destruction at Elimination Chamber 2018

Although he was unsuccessful in actually winning the Elimination Chamber match, Braun Strowman was the absolute star of the bout by getting every single elimination save for one.

There's no doubt that he was one of the biggest and toughest on the roster, but this performance firmly established him as the absolute king of all monsters in WWE.

Taking out The Miz, Elias, John Cena, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins is a major plus for the mountain of a man, and it's just a shame he wasn't prioritized enough to take the lead in actually receiving that Universal Championship match at WrestleMania.

The way he was booked here proves that WWE knows he's popular and a major star for the future, but that they just can't get past their own preferences and did everything in their power to give Strowman the best case scenario while still keeping their plan of Roman Reigns coming out on top.

Had the creative committee been resourceful enough to change the original plan and go with the option that is clearly more favorable to a lot of fans, this discussion wouldn't end with pointing out that Strowman came up short, but that he solidified his main event spot for the biggest show of the year.

Now, it's unclear what he'll be doing, but the one thing that is definite is that it won't be good enough for someone who is the biggest threat on the roster, and this performance will make what he does at WrestleMania underwhelming in comparison.

#1 Roman Reigns sets up a repeat

Roman Reigns is once again going to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania.

Sadly, much to the groan of plenty of WWE fans, the entire year of building up to Roman Reigns being booked to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 was set in stone tonight.

Ignoring the gripes and groans and inevitable boos that will prove WWE wrong in thinking that fans want this to happen and will be more receptive to it, there's no arguing that this isn't important.

It's likely that Reigns vs. Lesnar will be the main event of WrestleMania, but even if it isn't what goes on last, it will at least be where we see Lesnar's title reign end and Reigns getting yet another definitive spot as the top of the food chain in WWE.

It's going to happen. Get used to it as early as you can so it stings less. Elimination Chamber is the crowning moment that proves that WWE is unwilling to get past what it wants you as a fan to accept with open arms, and even if they have to repeat themselves from previous failures, they'll try their best to wear you down.

You can like it, you can hate it, but you certainly have no real choice in the matter other than picking those two options, rather than presenting some alternative solutions and hoping they will listen.

And if you happen to be okay with that and you want to see Reigns fight Lesnar again, you just got your wish and you will be happy to see the next few weeks leading up to his title win.

If not, well, tough break, because this was perhaps the most important thing to happen in the entire night and that will continue to be the case going forward.