WWE Elimination Chamber 2024: Biggest Winners And Losers

WWE traveled to Perth, Australia, bringing the infamous Elimination Chamber overseas for a night of action in a packed Optus Stadium. With only 5 matches across the lengthy event, the matches were few but substantial. As always, there were winners and there were losers, both in the literal and figurative sense.

From Rhea Ripley standing tall in her home country and Logan Paul's impish display in the titular chamber to Naomi's less-than-monumental return to WWE competition, there were plenty of highs and lows. 

So here are the biggest winners and biggest losers from WWE's first international premium live event of the year.

On a show with two Elimination Chamber matches, both of which had serious WrestleMania implications, WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley headlined the show in her title defense against Nia Jax in a display that was somewhat reminiscent of "Golden Era" Hulk Hogan. Jax provided a dominant foil for Ripley, who struggled in ways the champion rarely has during her long and illustrious reign. 

While Roman Reigns might be looking to break Hulk Hogan's title record, he hasn't defended the belt nearly as much. I will not use this section on that well-trodded ground, but it is important context, as Ripley is nearing a full year with her title. Ripley has been sneakily a charismatic faction leader like Reigns, as well as a workhorse champion like WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. While Damian Priest, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio and even plucky JD McDonaugh are primed for success this WrestleMania season, they are riding the massive wave of Rhea Ripley's popularity.

If ever there was someone "made" by Elimination Chamber, it was Ripley.

It's not Naomi's fault that she's returned to WWE when the women's division is a bit crowded, nevertheless, she has returned to WWE at the worst possible time. In TNA Wrestling, Naomi may have felt like a big fish in a little pond but that doesn't change the fact that she was doing a lot to rehabilitate her reputation as a main event player. Now, in her first major match since returning to WWE, she was the first eliminated in a brief amount of time considering the nature of the match.

Naomi was eliminated 13 minutes into the women's chamber match, compared to Bobby Lashley, who lasted more than 20 minutes in the men's match before being the first one eliminated. Unlike the Royal Rumble, where Naomi at least felt like a significant part of the match, here she felt like a side character. It's possible that returning right as a jam-packed women's roster is gearing up for WrestleMania has left her on the outside looking in, at best a wrestler who can take a loss to bolster the odds of some of WrestleMania's main contenders. 

It is not all bad there will likely be a battle royal or a tag match that will get Naomi on one of the two nights and then it can be off to the races once WrestleMania season wraps up.

Drew McIntyre might be the luckiest man on the face of the planet. At a time when he needs to prove his worth to WWE in the middle of contract renegotiations, CM Punk is injured, Cody Rhodes is back in the match with Roman Reigns where he belongs, leaving McIntyre a clear path to WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, who -like Punk- is dealing with an injury.

McIntyre had a dominant display inside the men's Elimination Chamber match, pinning a former pillar of the WWE main event scene in Randy Orton, and even getting what is commonly referred to as "Big Pyro." McIntyre looks ready to be World Heavyweight Champion any day now.

While Seth Rollins limps his way to Philadelphia, McIntyre has been a standout in the ring and on social media, relishing his new villainy and trash-talking his co-workers with glee. We are heading into a WrestleMania season and McIntyre feels like a made man in a way that he hasn't since before the COVID-19 pandemic ruined his first run with the WWE Championship.

I am going to start this with a story of my days watching NJPW events, so as you know I am saying all of this with as much humility, good humor, and respect as possible. 

When I was deep into NJPW, there would always inevitably be one or two shows, often titled "Road To [PPV Name]" where there isn't anything incredibly noteworthy that happened. I would be punishingly tired, dawn would be peaking through the window, and I'd think "Well, you got me!" as the main event came to its inevitable albeit satisfactory conclusion. Elimination Chamber was the same way, and for American fans who tuned in at 5 in the morning, I say this with love and kindness, they "got" you. 

Much like the "Road To" shows that I would bemoan, the local crowd in Perth, Australia had a great time at Elimination Chamber. It started at a decent hour and sure, it might have gone on too long but that's fine when the show starts at 5:30 in the afternoon.  The matches were good, some of them great even, and the atmosphere was electric, but there was nothing on this show that made it "must-see" television. 

And that's fine, for WWE to truly be a global company, sometimes they are going to have to run events that are not "for" the North American market which has become so accustomed to WWE's attention. No one can tell anyone how to spend their time, some people wake up early to watch European fútbol teams with losing records, but I do feel a little for the people who ruined their sleep schedules to see what essentially turned out to be a "Road To WrestleMania" show.