WWE Elimination Chamber 2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Through no small amount of caffeine and sheer willpower, the Wrestling Inc. crew has endured a brutal 5 a.m. start time to take in WWE's 2024 installment of the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event, coming to the world live from Perth, Western Australia. The main card featured four matches, including the men's and women's editions of the namesake melee, in addition to defenses of both the men's Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles and the WWE Women's World Championship by Australia's favorite daughter, Rhea "Bloody" Ripley. The Kabuki Warriors also defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships against Candace LeRae and Indi Hartwell on the Elimination Chamber kickoff show.

As with any WWE event, there were high points and low points alike, with the Wrestling Inc. team appreciating different aspects of the show more than others. This PLE featured a carer-defining performance, but some of us weren't thrilled with some of the match finishes. Some of us didn't like what we smelled being cooked on the "Grayson Waller Effect," but loved the reception we saw from the locals.

Here are three things we hated about WWE Elimination Chamber 2024 and three things we loved.

I've railed on Austin Theory before, saying he needs a total reboot and I totally still stand by that, so here I am again, ready to crap all over another Theory moment at Elimination Chamber. Appearing alongside his tag team partner Grayson Waller on "The Grayson Waller Effect," Theory (in theory) played the role of annoying little pest rather well, needling both Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes enough to catch a Cody Cutter from the latter and a Stomp from the former before it was all over. That's all well and good, and we got enough news from both Rollins (returning soon from injury) and Rhodes (challenging The Rock) to make the segment worth watching, but nothing on Earth made Theory doing an impression of said Rock either necessary or sensible.

First of all, The Rock himself would have taken a chunk out of Theory's roody-poo candy ass just for the attempt. Second, why would Rollins and/or Rhodes want him, as they did, to recite all of The Rock's lines? And finally, he sucked at it. Good for this guy, I guess, out there just doing what he's given to do but what does any of this do for a character that needs an overhaul anyway? And why is he within a country mile of anything even slightly to do with the purported WrestleMania main events?

I now need a few things to happen with regard to Austin Theory: 1) Get him away from Waller. The Aussie is pure gold and is just fine on his own. We don't need A-Town bringing him down and that's gonna happen before too long. 2) Good grief, please don't have him do anything else with Rhodes, Rollins, Rock, or Roman on the Road to Mania. And 3) Find me one of those Men In Black hypnotizer deals so I can erase his part of that segment from my memory forever.

Written by Jon Jordan

Heading into the main event of WWE's Elimination Chamber, it's fair to say that Nia Jax had plenty of doubters and critics who weren't sure whether she was worthy of being in that spot. While Rhea Ripley has put together plenty of high-quality matches throughout her career to prove she was at this level, this was the biggest opportunity of Jax's career. 

It's fair to say that she more than delivered on the opportunity provided to her, as Jax's performance throughout the match was fantastic. While it wasn't a fast-paced back-and-forth match, she and Ripley played to their strengths of being powerhouses, and that allowed them to tell a convincing story. Jax was there to provide a genuine threat to the title, and that's exactly what she did by leaning into her physicality and the strength advantage she has over Ripley. 

Jax dominated the majority of the encounter, taking her time to slowly pick away at Ripley, and there were enough convincing spots throughout that people could buy into the near falls provided. Ripley sold everything to the maximum which certainly helped, and with the audience completely invested it provided a match worthy of the main event spot it had been given. 

Whether it was putting Ripley through a table outside the ring or taking a huge superplex herself, Jax committed massively, and while the focus will immediately go to Ripley facing Becky Lynch at WWE WrestleMania 40, Jax deserves her flowers as well. It was the best match of her career to this point, and that's a credit to the improvements she has been making to her overall performance since she returned to the company. 

Written by Matt Wilkinson

The women's Elimination Chamber match opened the most gruesome stop on the Road to WrestleMania, and in many cases, it absolutely delivered. All six of the women in that chamber set the bar incredibly high, from Tiffany Stratton's daredevilish leap from the chamber pod to Liv Morgan's scrappy brawl with Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch in the final act of the match. The outfits were all on-point, Raquel Rodriguez got her time to shine after being away for so long, and Naomi has a new, hot trajectory to pursue on "WWE SmackDown". The women's Elimination Chamber match was so close to being perfect.

And then it was over, just like that. Really?

It's disappointing, because just a few hours ago, I wrote about how I appreciated how unrushed Morgan vs. Stratton was on the most recent edition of "SmackDown". I am of the personal opinion that WWE read my opinion piece, and then decided to do the complete opposite of what I just praised them for (joking, but could you imagine).

The final act of the women's Elimination Chamber match, between Belair, Morgan, and Lynch, was almost cinematic in its beauty. There was counter after counter, near fall after near fall. My heart was in my throat, and for a moment, I forgot about all of the WrestleMania 40 build-up that basically confirmed Lynch was going to face Ripley. It was that close, and hats off to all three women involved. They are some of the best storytellers in the game.

Morgan pinned Belair with her signature roll-up. Australia was on the edge of it seat. Then, Lynch pinned Morgan, not even two seconds after. Just like that, Lynch punched her ticket to WrestleMania.

This was a literal "blink and you'll miss it" moment. What should have been a long, drawn out, dramatic battle between two of the most believable candidates to face Ripley at WrestleMania 40 was packaged into a two-second offense, and a three-second pin. Not even a submission! There was no momentum to the final outcome of that match. The finish felt rushed, like it was the final act of a student film when they realize that the assignment is due tomorrow. The adrenaline took a precipitous drop, because the action was so big and flamboyant one moment, and gone the next, without any time to process it or enjoy it.

That's my real issue with the finish of this match — very few people, if anybody, could enjoy that finish. We simply did not have the time! Wrestling is all about storytelling, so what good is a story if it's two moments in time and three moments on the ground, with no build-up between it? Brevity is the soul of the wit, yes, but there is such a thing as rushing into things without building proper anticipation for the perfect amount of catharsis.

I am also concerned as to where Morgan goes after this. Her "revenge tour" sounds just too promising to let go — it feels like the spiritual sister to Cody Rhodes needing to "finish the story". That finish, though, was definitive in its quickness; there was no time to question the result. So, what happens to Morgan's revenge tour now? Let's hope the answer is not as brief and unsatisfying as the finish to this match.

Written by Angeline Phu

She may not have come out on top in her first ever Elimination Chamber appearance but Tiffany Stratton represented herself fantastically and the former NXT Women's Champion is poised to shine in the "SmackDown" women's division — and all across WWE — for a long time to come.

Met with overwhelmingly positive crowd response all week in Perth, Stratton didn't disappoint in the Chamber and she continues to just look like such a natural in everything she does with athleticism and grace on par with anyone in the business. Though we didn't get to see a Prettiest Moonsault Ever (despite two tries, including the second that led directly to her elimination when she was thwarted by Liv Morgan), we did get to see Tiffany take out the entire field with a highlight reel Swanton Bomb off the top of one of the pods. Add to that a series of Rolling Sentons throughout the match and a ring presence already up their with the top of the division and what we have in Tiffany Stratton is simple: an uncrowned queen.

It won't be long at all, I'd venture to guess, before Stratton dons gold on "SmackDown" but first, it seems like she'll have to deal with a vengeful Naomi, who called her out on X, seemingly miffed at being eliminated by "The Blockbuster Blonde." With that feud all but officially teed up, we can expect to see plenty of Stratton on WWE TV in the coming weeks and there's no doubt that "Tiffy Time" has only just begun.

Written by Jon Jordan

While I thought the entirety of this PLE was way too predictable, who could have predicted the end of the men's Elimination Chamber match? And by that, I don't mean the winner, who I KNEW would be Drew McIntyre, the only "WWE Raw" star in the Chamber, but how he got the victory. The interference from Logan Paul to smash Randy Orton with the brass knuckles he wasn't able to use when he was actually in the match was a little too ridiculous for me. While I understand Paul had something to prove since Orton was the one who eliminated him, I don't think those two are going to be feuding anytime soon. Also, you have McIntyre, a star who's been built to look extremely strong, win off something like that? I simply just don't like it. 

Also, wait, did the referees just open up the Chamber door for Paul to go waltzing in for no reason? When AJ Styles got in the Chamber to beat down on LA Knight, at least it was when the doors were open to allow Bobby Lashley out. This part just makes absolutely no sense when you think about it.

I'm not a Logan Paul hater, entirely. I don't like what he's done in the other aspects of his career, but he's pretty darn good in the ring. Which he's shown before, but this morning, not so much. He came out last in the Chamber match, probably to protect himself and everyone involved since he's a newer wrestler in an extreme stipulation match, but he spent the entirety of the match in a mini-match, with Paul getting beat down by Kevin Owens. But he just had to involve himself in the finish because, well, he's Logan Paul. While McIntyre moves on to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, I don't see Paul getting into a feud with a star as big as Orton. But I could be wrong, and that's something I absolutely don't want to see.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Waking up at 5 a.m. to catch an entertaining, but predictable pay-per-view is not the easiest thing to do (and don't even get me started on staying up until 2 a.m. and beyond, for my fellow West Coast-ers). Even if you've been watch-partying this event all night, the adrenaline starts to wear off, especially when all of our predictions have been confirmed by the WWE Elimination Chamber 2024 results.

If you're reading this from Australia, consider this a formal love letter to you. The Australian crowd for Elimination Chamber was absolutely electric from the pre-show all the way to the final moments of the main event. Even from my computer speakers, I could hear the stadium rumble with its uproarious approval of hometown heroes like Indi Hartwell and Rhea Ripley. I heard every creative chant loud and clear, which is incredibly impressive for a stadium of 55,590 people, including "Dom's a wanker" (hilarious). The Aussie crowd's enthusiasm for every near fall, every shoey, every major announcement was infectious. I could not help but feel at least a little bit perked up throughout the show because of the crowd's vocal reactions, even into the early morning American hours.

The power of the crowd is underrated, even in a post-#WeWantCody era. Australia carried some very predictable finishes from just-okay to great, and their energy made me excited to see their favorite wrestlers succeed and upset to see their favorite wrestlers fail. It is the power of human connection that moves us to continue to watch wrestling. We not only connect with the faces we see on the screen, but we connect with the crowd. No matter who your favorite is, or who you absolutely despise, we are all here because we love wrestling. We are here because we are excited about wrestling! A great crowd can remind us of that simple but essential similarity that we can sometimes forget.

It is a wonderful thing to be able to step back and appreciate just how much impact a really great crowd can have on an otherwise tiresome, tedious watching experience. Australia, hats off to you. May we experience your amazing spirit again soon!

Written by Angeline Phu