Elimination Chamber 2018

Elimination Chamber 2018 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for the Raw brand. It took place on February 25, 2018 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the eighth event under the Elimination Chamber chronology and the final Raw-exclusive pay-per-view under the second brand split as following WrestleMania 34, all WWE pay-per-views will be dual-branded, featuring wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands. The 2018 event was also be the first to feature a seven-man Elimination Chamber match, and the first event to include a women's Elimination Chamber match. The event was also the first Raw-exclusive pay-per-view since the 2016 reintroduction of the brand extension not scheduled to feature any Cruiserweight Division matches.
==Background==
Elimination Chamber featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The card was highlighted by two Elimination Chamber matches, one of which was the first to involve women.
At the Royal Rumble, Shinsuke Nakamura won the men's Royal Rumble match and decided to stay on SmackDown to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34. This left Brock Lesnar, who at the same event retained his Universal Championship in a triple threat match against Braun Strowman and Kane, without an opponent at WrestleMania. In response, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled an Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. Six qualification matches were scheduled. The first three were contested on the January 29 episode of Raw. In the first, Strowman defeated Kane in a last man standing match to qualify. Kane was taken to a local medical center after the match. Elias then qualified by defeating "Woken" Matt Hardy after a distraction from Bray Wyatt, and John Cena defeated Finn Bálor to qualify. Roman Reigns and Intercontinental Champion The Miz qualified the next week by defeating Wyatt and Apollo Crews, respectively. That same episode, Elias earned the right to be the sixth entrant into the chamber by defeating Cena and Strowman in a triple threat match. The final qualification match was scheduled for the following week in a second chance fatal four-way match between Bálor, Wyatt, Hardy, and Crews.
On the January 29 episode of Raw, Commissioner Stephanie McMahon convinced Asuka, who won the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match the previous night at the Royal Rumble, to wait until after Elimination Chamber to pick which championship to challenge at WrestleMania 34, as Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss was scheduled to defend her title in the first-ever women's Elimination Chamber match. The following week, General Manager Kurt Angle announced that Bayley, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Sasha Banks, and Sonya Deville would be the other competitors in the Elimination Chamber match. He also announced that Nia Jax would face Asuka at Elimination Chamber and if she were to defeat Asuka, she would be inserted into the Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania. Bliss came out and questioned Angle as to why she had to defend her title in the Elimination Chamber match while Universal Champion Brock Lesnar did not and accused Angle of sexism. Angle retorted that Lesnar retained his title at the Royal Rumble, but Bliss had not defended her title since TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in October.
On the January 15 episode of Raw, Asuka defeated Nia Jax after the referee stopped the match, deeming that Jax could no longer continue. Both then competed in the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble, which Asuka won for the right to challenge for either the Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 34. On the February 5 episode of Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle announced that Nia Jax would face Asuka at Elimination Chamber and if she were to defeat Asuka, who would still receive her championship opportunity at WrestleMania, Jax would also be inserted into the Raw Women's Championship match at the event. The following week, after a match between Bayley and Sasha Banks, Jax attacked both women to send a message to Asuka. Whilst walking up the ramp, she proclaimed that she would be the one to end Asuka's undefeated streak.
Following Asuka's Royal Rumble match victory at the Royal Rumble, former UFC star Ronda Rousey made an appearance and interrupted Asuka, Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss, and SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair. Rousey's appearance confirmed that she had signed full-time with WWE. On the February 12 episode of Raw, it was announced that Rousey would sign her Raw contract at Elimination Chamber.
After losing a feud to Elias, Matt Hardy was defeated by Bray Wyatt on the November 27, 2017 episode of Raw. Following the match, Hardy had a mental breakdown where he sat in the corner and repeatedly shouted "delete" with an arm gesture. This would be the genesis of Hardy's transition into "Woken" Matt Hardy (WWE's version of his "Broken" gimmick from Impact Wrestling) where he debuted as the character the following week, interrupting a promo by Wyatt. Over the following month, the two went back and forth in promos as well as a couple of in-ring confrontations, and they finally had a match on Raw 25 on January 22, 2018 in which Wyatt again defeated Hardy. The two then faced off in the Royal Rumble match, where they eliminated each other. On the February 19 episode of Raw, another match between the two was scheduled for Elimination Chamber.
Prior to the Royal Rumble, Titus Worldwide (Apollo and Titus O'Neil) gained two consecutive wins over number one contenders Cesaro and Sheamus, who at the Royal Rumble, won the Raw Tag Team Championship from Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins to become record four-time champions as a team, and a record fifth reign for Cesaro individually. Titus Worldwide received a title opportunity on Raw immediately following the Royal Rumble, but were unsuccessful, and Cesaro and Sheamus also retained their titles in Jordan and Rollins' contractual rematch, though Roman Reigns subbed for an injured Jordan. On the February 19 episode of Raw, Titus Worldwide had a non-title match against Cesaro and Sheamus and defeated the champions. Afterwards, they challenged Cesaro and Sheamus for the Raw Tag Team Championship at Elimination Chamber for being 3-1 over the champions, which was made official on February 23.
On February 23, Bálor Club members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were scheduled to face The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) on the Elimination Chamber pre-show.
==Event==
===Pre-show===
During the pre-show, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson of the Bálor Club faced The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel). Gallows and Anderson performed the Magic Killer on Axel for the win.
===Preliminary matches===
The main show opened with the first-ever women's Elimination Chamber match for the Raw Women's Championship. Bayley and Sonya Deville were the first two contestants. Mandy Rose entered next, followed by Sasha Banks. Before Mickie James could enter, Rose was eliminated after tapping out to the Bank Statement by Banks. James then entered and eliminated Deville after a Lou Thesz Press from the top of a pod. James was then eliminated shortly after by Bayley following Bayley-to-Belly. Alexa Bliss was hesitant to enter and following some catch and mouse on the cage wall, Banks was able to knock her down on top of a pod. Banks then turned her attention to Bayley and Bayley subsequently gave Banks a Bayley to Belly. Bayley was eliminated by a roll up pin from Bliss. Bliss then won the match after hitting a top rope DDT on Banks to retain her title.
Next, Cesaro and Sheamus defeated Titus Worldwide (Apollo and Titus O'Neil) with a springboard version of their finisher to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship.
The third match of the main show featured Asuka facing Nia Jax where if Jax won, she would be added to Asuka's championship match at WrestleMania 34. Jax dominated the match, but the match ended when Jax tried to powerbomb Asuka and Asuka reversed it into a roll up pin for the win and keeping Jax out of her WrestleMania championship match. After the match, Jax blasted Asuka through the ringside barricade near the time keeper's area.
Next, "Woken" Matt Hardy fought Bray Wyatt. Hardy won by giving a Twist of Fate to Wyatt.
The final segment on the under-card was the Raw contract signing of Ronda Rousey. General Manager Kurt Angle, Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, and Chief Operating Officer Triple H bragged about Rousey before introducing her. However, before Rousey signed her contract, Triple H confirmed that there were no special stipulations in Rousey's contract, but she would compete in a match at WrestleMania 34. Angle then brought up the incident from WrestleMania 31 between Rousey, Triple H, Stephanie, and The Rock, and said that Triple H and Stephanie were now glad that they owned Rousey so they could manipulate her. Triple H and Stephanie tried to clear the air, but Angle instigated the tension more, which resulted in Rousey putting Triple H through a table. Stephanie then slapped Rousey, but ran before Rousey could attack her. Rousey then signed her contract.
=== Main event ===
The main event of the show was the first-ever seven-man Elimination Chamber match with the victor becoming the number one contender against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34. Due to the extra person, three men started the match instead of two, which were The Miz, Seth Rollins, and Finn Bálor. John Cena then entered the match as the fourth entrant. Roman Reigns was the next person to enter the match and the sixth entrant was Braun Strowman. The Miz was the first to be eliminated by Strowman following a Running Powerslam. The last man to enter the match was Elias, who earned that right on an episode of Raw. Strowman then eliminated Elias, Cena, Bálor, and Rollins by performing a Running Powerslam on each of them. The final two were Strowman and Roman Reigns, the latter of which won the match after hitting Strowman with three Superman Punches and two Spears, and becoming the number one contender against Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34.
==Match Preview==
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Miztourage	Preview
Women's Elimination Chamber Match 	Preview
The Bar vs. Titus Worldwide 	Preview
Men's Elimination Chamber Match 	Preview
Asuka vs. Nia Jax 	Preview
"Woken" Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt 	Preview
Ronda Rousey’s official Raw Contract Signing 	Preview
==Results==
;
;
*Pre-Show: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated The Miztourage (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) (8:50)
*Alexa Bliss (c) defeated Bayley, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Sasha Banks & Sonya Deville in a Elimination Chamber match to retain the WWE Raw Women's Championship (29:35)
*The Bar (Cesaro & Sheamus) (c) defeated Titus Worldwide (Apollo & Titus O'Neil) (w/ Dana Brooke) to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (10:05)
*Asuka defeated Nia Jax (8:15)
:*If Nia had won, she would have been added to the WWE Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 34
*"Woken" Matt Hardy defeated Bray Wyatt (9:55)
*Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman, Elias, John Cena, The Miz & Seth Rollins in a Elimination Chamber match for a WWE Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 34 (40:15)
==Elimination Chamber match (Women)==
Eliminated	Wrestler 	Entered	Eliminated by	Method of elimination 	Time
1 	Mandy Rose 	3 	Sasha Banks 	Bank Statement 	13:50
2 	Sonya Deville	1 	Mickie James 	Lou Thesz Press off the top of a pod	17:35
3 	Mickie James 	5 	Bayley 	Bayley to Belly 	18:00
4 	Bayley 	2 	Alexa Bliss 	Roll-up 	25:30
5 	Sasha Banks 	4 	Alexa Bliss 	Hanging DDT 	29:35
Winner 	Alexa Bliss 	6 	colspan="2" 	 	29:35
==Elimination Chamber match (Men)==
Eliminated	Wrestler 	Entered	Eliminated by 	Method of elimination	Time
1 	The Miz 	1 	Braun Strowman	Running Powerslam 	20:20
2 	Elias 	7 	Braun Strowman	Powerslam 	25:55
3 	John Cena 	4 	Braun Strowman	Powerslam 	26:25
4 	Finn Bálor 	3 	Braun Strowman	Powerslam 	30:45
5 	Seth Rollins 	2 	Braun Strowman	Powerslam 	36:40
6 	Braun Strowman	6 	Roman Reigns 	Spear 	40:15
Winner 	Roman Reigns 	5 	colspan="2" 	 	40:15
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Michael Cole
*Corey Graves
*Jonathan Coachman
*Carlos Cabrera 
*Marcelo Rodríguez 
*Carsten Schaefer 
*Tim Haber 
*Calvin Knie 
;Ring announcer
*JoJo
;Interviewers
*Charly Caruso
*Mike Rome
*Renee Young	
;Pre-show panel
*Renee Young
*Peter Rosenberg
*Booker T
*David Otunga
*Paige
*Paul Heyman
;Referees
*Shawn Bennett
*John Cone
*Dan Engler
*Jason Ayers
*Chad Patton
==See Also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*World Wrestling Entertainment/Event history
*Elimination Chamber
*Event gallery
*Raw Talk
==DVD release==
* on DVD
==External links==
* Official Website
* Kickoff Show on WWE Network
* on WWE Network
* Raw Talk on WWE Network
* Kickoff Show at CAGEMATCH.net
* at CAGEMATCH.net
el:Elimination Chamber 2018
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:2018 pay-per-view events
Category:Elimination Chamber PPV
Category:Events with Elimination Chamber matches