Daniel Bryan retained the WWE Championship despite a furious rally from fan favorite Kofi "hotter-than-Becky-Lynch" Kingston at WWE Elimination Chamber. Meanwhile, Sasha Banks and Bayley made history by winning the first-ever Women's Tag Team Championships. The currently "suspended" and "injured" Becky Lynch made a cameo by assaulting Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey with her crutches as the WrestleMania main event remains subject to change.
Raw viewership continued to drop for the Elimination Chamber go-home show as WWE's numbers remain alarmingly low during what is supposed to be its most popular stretch of the year.
| Air Date | WWE Raw Viewership |
| February 11, 2019 | 2.462 million viewers |
| February 4, 2019 | 2.510 million viewers |
| January 28, 2019 | 2.703 million viewers |
| January 21, 2019 | 2.462 million viewers |
| January 14, 2019 | 2.722 million viewers |
| Air Date | WWE SmackDown Live Viewership |
| February 12, 2019 | 2.034 million viewers |
| February 5, 2019 | 1.841 million viewers |
| January 29, 2019 | 2.137 million viewers |
| January 22, 2019 | 2.142 million viewers |
| January 15, 2019 | 2.143 million viewers |
WWE Elimination Chamber 2019 Key Competition:
- 2019 NBA All Star Game
- UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez
From the Forbes WWE Vault:
WWE Total YouTube Viewership for Raw Last Monday: 8,466,412 views (Down from 11,234,285)
- Most-Viewed: Charlotte Flair Replaces Becky Lynch in Anticipated WrestleMania Match (1,661,500 views)
- Least-Viewed: The Revival are Raw Tag Team Champions (80,927 views)
- Median Viewership: 330,496
WWE Total YouTube Viewership for SmackDown Live Last Tuesday: 4,942,979 views
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- Most-Viewed: Kofi Kingston vs. AJ Styles—Gauntlet Match Part 4 (1,062,662 views)
- Least-Viewed: SmackDown Teams on Why They'll be the First Women's Tag Champions (69,736 views)
- Median Viewership: 477,845
Average Attendance in "A City": 9,235
Average WWE Elimination Chamber Ticket Price at the Toyota Center: $105
WWE Elimination Chamber 2019 Estimated Live Gate: $969,675WWE Elimination Chamber 2019: Sunday, February 17, 2019
Bayley and Sasha Banks def. The IIconics; Naomi and Carmella; Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville; Nia Jax and Tamina and the Riott Squad—WWE Women's Tag Team Championships
Another HISTORIC night on @WWENetwork...
Congratulations, @SashaBanksWWE & @itsBayleyWWE! #WWEChamber
2,669 people are talking about this
This match was off to an overachieving start but promptly slowed down as soon as it centered around the offense of the IIconics.
The more accurate name for the team of Carmella and Naomi would be Team Hell Week.
Any vulgar chants and jeering toward Carmella was limited to a surprisingly small pocket of idiots in Houston.
Is the Samoan Slaughterhouse cousins with the Uso Penitentiary?
In 2019, Nia Jax has already feuded with women, men and plexiglass. She wants the smoke with everybody.
I haven't had this much fun watching an Elimination Chamber match in years.
The Usos def. Shane McMahon and The Miz—WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships
The Miz has now had more pregnancies than world championships.
Shane looked very spry in this match considering it's a miracle his body isn't in shambles.
I'm convinced Jimmy Uso squared up with a police officer to practice fighting an authority figure, which is what the Usos are going to have to do if they want to defeat Shane McMahon.
There was a rare miscue between the Usos, and I might be reading too much into this, but I just want to issue a reminder that a) Brother vs. Brother feuds almost never work and b) An Uso vs. Uso feud would never, ever work.
As someone invested in the budding bromance between Shane McMahon and The Miz I was truly heartbroken to see them lose.
Finn Balor def. Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush
Michael Cole's nicknames for Lio Rush include "the hype man" and "the big mouth." Straight to the top!
Finn Balor took turns looking miniature (while wrestling Bobby Lashley) and enormous (while wrestling Lio Rush.)
Finn Balor's Intercontinental Championship victory makes me wonder how many times he mentioned the words "AEW" to WWE management before this show started.
Bobby Lashley lost his Intercontinental Championship, then attacked Lio Rush meaning he's now going to have to cut promos by himself. Bobby Lashley lost twice tonight.
Ronda Rousey def. Ruby Riott—WWE Raw Women's Championship
Poor Ruby Riott's role in this match is "underrated, overlooked challenger." I'm surprised the announce team even remembered her name.
Ronda Rousey dressed as Sonya Blade from legendary video game series Mortal Kombat. I waited the whole match for Charlotte to sarcastically scream "finish her!"
Ruby Riott lost so quickly I had to check to make sure she wasn't involved in a scandal this week too.
I'm beginning to think that WWE can only suspend people from coming in through the front door.
Baron Corbin def. Braun Strowman—No Disqualification Match
This match featured a lot of running, screaming and stopping.
Braun Strowman is a 6'8, near-400-pound monster with unparalleled strength. His kryptonite? Drew McIntyre's music. To defeat Braun Strowman, you don't need a kendo stick, a steel chair or a table. You just need bagpipes.
Daniel Bryan def. Kofi Kingston, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Samoa Joe and Jeff Hardy
The narrative of Samoa Joe as a monster is hampered by the fact nobody cuts a better promo in the entire company than Joe.
By this point in the pay-per-view, there were more "Kofi" chants than "Becky" chants.
Kofi Kingston was literally in the same position as Santino Marella in 2012, but this time fans seemed to believe he actually had a chance.
The final sequences between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston was the most exhilarating, heartbeat-skipping exciting sequence you'll see in WWE all year.
Alfred is a contributor to Forbes Sports Money. Follow him on Twitter @ThisIsNasty, Instagram @Akonuwa and LIKE him on Facebook.
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