WWE Elimination Chamber 2019 LD - The Paradise and the Pain

[Sean Valjean]

Kofi is the best full-time option for sure, but I'd bet on Taker or Cena first.

Probably Cena which would be fine given he and DB's history (kayfabe and real). But dammit if I wouldn't lose my mind at seeing Kofi battle for the WWE title at the biggest stage, let alone win it.

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Kofi and DB brought that magic feeling why any true wrestling fans watch wrestling, that underdog type deserving a victory never gets old, they had the crowd in the palms of their hands, including me.

[shafe_41]

Kofi is the best full-time option for sure, but I'd bet on Taker or Cena first.

I think we'll get Cena/Bryan personally for Mania. Kofi will win the title in a multi-man match taking the title off Cena or something, and be that transitional guy for a heel to take the belt back. I don't think they'd let Kofi pin Cena.

[Spidey]

It is fucked how Kofi only got that opportunity to shine because Ali was hurt. As if this match needed Hardy.

[klunderbunker]

Elimination Chamber 2019
Date: February 17, 2019
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young, Tom Phillips, Percy Watson

It’s the first of two stops on the Road to Wrestlemania and that means we’ll be seeing a big steel structure. In this case it’s for the WWE Championship and the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles. The structure alone makes this a little more interesting and hopefully it’s good on top of that. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Not Since Rock vs. Cena

[HOMOFLEXUAL DYNAMITE]

Bitches love facepaint. So there's always a place for Jeff Hardy.

[FunKay]

Probably the best 12 minutes of wrestling I've felt invested in for... oh quite some time. Major props to Bryan for an exceptional performance as the sneaky heel champ, but by God, Kofi Kingston is a made man and they shouldn't pass this chance up

[Jack-Hammer]

Buddy Murphy vs. Akira Tozawa was a really fun, physical 3.75 star bout that featured the usual fun action expected. It's high time the Cruiserweight Championship matches stop being relegated to the kickoff show and I was a bit miffed at the disrespectful split screen cutaway to a useless backstage promo right in the middle of the match. I thought it was a disrespect to the wrestlers in the ring, the CW title itself and to the Cruiserweights in general; how in the blue frig does Vince expect people to be invested in the Cruiserweights when he constantly does stuff to make it appear as though they barely qualify as an afterthought? At any rate, a really fun match and I'm wondering if they might possibly sorta be setting up a run for Rey Mysterio with Murphy having recently started calling himself "the greatest Cruiserweight of all time." Personally, I think it'd be fun use of Mysterio, it'd lead to some great matches, Rey could win the title and then drop it to some young turk a bit down the line for a major rub.

The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber match was a 4.25 star bout that featured really good action, storytelling and, surprise, some smart booking. There were a few rough spots here and there but everyone in the match got an opportunity to shine. Fire & Desire looked better here than they ever have and I have to say the same for the IIconics, I'm still not that wild about them as they still stuck to their annoying, high pitch screaming routine every single time someone kicked out of a pin attempt but it was nice to see this more aggressive side of them. Nia Jax and Tamina were dull as dishwater, as always, but I liked that they didn't have then come in and just utterly dominate everyone and eliminate two or three teams on their own, plus it was great to see them eliminated. Sasha and Bayley winning the titles was the overall right call, in my opinion, though I wouldn't have minded if an upstart team like the Riott Squad had won, but Sasha & Bayley were the best options.

The SmackDown Tag Team Championship match got 3.25 stars from me, it got a little extra kick from McMiz's match against the Bar due to the surprise of McMiz dropping the titles to the Usos and for another match in which Shane & Miz treated things seriously. While I'm not wild about WWE going the route of giving them the titles as part of setting up a probable Shane vs. Miz match, at least they haven't acted like a couple of clowns. Still, the whole storyline of Miz's motivation being to make his father proud of him is one of those storylines that just kind of insults the intelligence of fans; I mean, even before winning the titles with Shane, he's a former WWE Champion, 2 time United States Champion, 8 time Intercontinental Champion, 6 time Tag Team Champion, a 1 time Mr. MiTB, married a French Canadian blonde sex pot that's among the most gorgeous women most mortal men have ever laid eyes on that he genuinely loves & loves him and had made a big ass pile of money working in WWE. It just seems to me like if I'd had all that going for me and I still didn't have my father's approval or respect, then the problem would be that my father's an asshole rather than there being something the matter with me.

Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship is one of those things that should've happened on Raw. They could have easily done this there rather than put it on a ppv. I'm also not much of a fan of the story with the story seemingly being the big man is too much for the smaller man so the smaller man beats up the even smaller man. It's just something that feels like it has Vince's fingerprints all over it. It was surprising to see Balor win the title, I thought they might save it for Mania but I know that everything can't or shouldn't necessarily happen at WrestleMania. So now this means we'll probably have a match or two featuring Lashley killing Lio Rush with Vince jacking himself off watching Rush get rag dolled all over the place. As for the match, I thought it was 2, maybe 2.25 stars at best.

The Raw Women's Championship match was all about setting up a confrontation with Ronda, Charlotte and Becky. It was a shame that Riott was fed to Rousey, she's got legit talent and she probably came off looking weaker than any opponent Rousey's faced yet. The match was way too short to rate but the confrontation afterwards was fun. Becky was in full tweener mode, though she looked like she got a bit sloppy when swinging those crutches as she caught Rousey at least one good time right in the face or head, I'm pretty sure she was bleeding a little, but a nice shot of aggression and intensity from Becky. I'd have still preferred this match be just between Ronda and Becky, but a triple threat will still be highly entertaining.

Strowman vs. Corbin was all about nothing. This was something else that could've taken place on Raw. Baron Corbin just....I dunno man...he just sucks the energy out of the room whenever he's out there and I do not understand this love Corbin has from Vince. He doesn't have a particularly good look, he's doesn't have a good body, he's not all that athletic, he doesn't have freakish strength and he's not all that good in the ring. The ending of the match was exactly as I expected with McIntyre and Lashley helping him score the win. To me, having McIntyre weighed down with Corbin and Lashley is a waste of his ability, he doesn't need them whatsoever. I get this is probably to set up a match with McIntyre and Strowman at WrestleMania but, again, McIntyre has more than enough talent without having to rely on 500 lbs. of dead weight in Corbin and Lashley. Strowman has really cooled off and it's unfortunate, he's someone who should've been Universal Champion, in my opinion, at least 6 months already but it didn't happen and while he's still over with fans, it's not remotely what it was about this same time last year. I gave this match one star.

The WWE Championchip Elimination Chamber match was a very strong 4.5, maybe even 4.75 star bout that was carried almost entirely by Daniel Bryan & Kofi Kingston. That's not to say the others didn't contribute, but it was the drama between Bryan & Kofi, Bryan's heelish tactics, the energy of their interaction together and the very believable near falls between them that made for the most enjoyable aspects of this match. I also really, really liked the fact that Bryan was one of the first two men to start the match as I felt he needed a good, strong showing here to make up for a few losses to Mustafa Ali in a tag match and Kofi in the gauntlet match last Tuesday. Bryan's a fantastic heel champion and he really believes in his character, and I was pleased to see Kofi continue to get such a positive reaction. I was also glad that they didn't have any one person come off as particularly dominant, it's a formula they've moved away from in matches like this and the Royal Rumble in which you have someone come up, decimate everyone, eliminate a lot of other competitors, etc.. and moving away from that just makes these matches all the more fun as it gives it more of an "anyone can win" feel. Kofi came off as the scrappy, full of heart never say die babyface challenger determined not to let his opportunity slip through his fingers while Bryan played a cross between a chicken shit heel, at times, to a determined, ruthless heel determined to keep what's his at any cost and it made for some of the best drama seem on the WWE's main roster in some time. Bryan retaining was the right decision, in my mind, and I honestly wouldn't mind seeing Bryan face off against Kofi at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship. Sure, it might not come off like some mega match but fans are very much behind Kofi, Kofi can deliver, he's got lots of personality and he's done everything else in WWE. Maybe even a triple threat match with Bryan, Kofi and Mustafa Ali as a couple of very fresh challengers.

If you'd put the CW title match on the main card, left out the IC title & no DQ matches, this would have been a A to maybe even an A+ ppv. The CW title and both EC matches were great to fantastic outings. The Raw Women's Championship match was disappointing, but the angle at the end was at least a lot of fun. The Intercontinental Championship match didn't need to be there, but it's mitigated somewhat by Finn Balor winning the title. The SmackDown Tag Team Championship match, all things taken into consideration, was an entertaining outing with a surprise ending with the Usos picking up their 6th Tag Team Championship. The only true, complete waste of time was Strowman vs. Corbin. With a few things working against it, I give Elimination Chamber a solid B.