WWE Elimination Chamber 2019: Star Ratings For All 7 Matches

3. Ronda Rousey Vs. Ruby Riott - RAW Women’s Championship Match

Stars Daniel Bryan Kofi Kingston
wwe.com

As a match, this was a bizarre waste of time—especially since WWE typically wastes so much time with filler on pay-per-view in this Network Era. Rousey simply tapped out Ruby Riott in under two minutes, and since two minutes was the time taken to get used to Rowdy’s distracting attire, none of it settled in the memory. It was senseless pretext to get to the angle.

Happily, that angle was excellent. As Charlotte Flair rose to confront Ronda, The Man came around on crutches. Throwing one at Charlotte, she decimated her in retribution for Saturday’s house show attack. Flair’s selling was outstanding, Becky’s defiant badass acting even more so. Lynch then motioned to Ronda. Here lay an opportunity for retribution for the events of Survivor Series. In a far less on-the-nose comparison to Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ronda shouldn’t have trusted her. You don’t trust anybody. Becky cracked Ronda right in the ear, drawing hardway blood, in the sort of reciprocal all-out physicality that has come to define this blinding, animosity-strewn storyline.

There’s a lesson here, not that WWE will heed it: The Man minus the McMahons equals really believable and entertaining pro wrestling.

And happily, it is impossible to make a pun from “crutches”, so we will be spared a damaging, b*llocks line like “Ken…do stick!

Match Star Rating: *

Angle Star Rating: ****1/2

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!