With Elimination Chamber 2019 coming up this Sunday night, the go-home shows of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live have given us an indication of what talent is booked for the pay-per-view and who is not currently scheduled. Of course, the card is always subject to change and WWE may end up making alterations to this lineup, but at the moment, the men and women in this breakdown are not currently advertised as being part of this event.
In some cases, this may be justified, or even a purposeful plan to set up a surprise. In other cases, it may be ridiculous. That is up to you to decide as we take a look at which superstars aren’t being promoted for this show.
Stars Without a Brand
— EC3: Finally, after weeks of doing nothing, EC3 was brought into the spotlight. Even if it was kind of mediocre and a nothing win over Dean Ambrose, followed by a loss to balance it out, it’s something. That’s better than nothing.
— Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight): Heavy Machinery failed to become No. 1 contenders for BOTH tag titles. That’s not a good start to them. But hey, at least that’s more than what Lars Sullivan has been doing, right?
— Lars Sullivan: To date, Sullivan is the only one of this crop of NXT talent to not do anything at all on the main roster. Not even a backstage promo. It’s becoming harder and harder to imagine that he’ll wrestle at WrestleMania as this continues.
— Lacey Evans: Curiously, Evans wasn’t factored in to try to get a tag team partner and fight for a spot in the Elimination Chamber. I guess losing on Main Event to Natalya for the second time is WWE’s idea of setting someone up for a bright future, right?
— Nikki Cross: Nobody lets Nikki play.
From the Raw Men’s Singles Division
— Apollo Crews: That push that Apollo Crews seemed to be getting appears to be on hold. He endorsed Kurt Angle twice on Raw previously, so maybe there’s something there, though. I doubt it, as they haven’t exactly followed up on that.
— Drew McIntyre / Kurt Angle: While Braun Strowman and Baron Corbin were granted a match together, two of the other guys linked to that feud, Angle and McIntyre, weren’t. Maybe they’ll be ringside in the corners of Strowman and Corbin?
— Bray Wyatt: Ignoring the untelevised appearance he had at Starrcade, we haven’t seen Bray Wyatt since The Deleters of Worlds lost the tag titles. It’s taken them a long time to repackage him or figure out new plans and it still hasn’t come to fruition.
— Brock Lesnar: This isn’t one of the Big Four events. Of course Brock Lesnar isn’t doing anything here. Haven’t you paid attention to the past bunch of years? This is nothing new.
— Dean Ambrose: Perhaps they go with a match against EC3, but I don’t think that is something that has enough momentum behind it to justify putting it on the card. More than likely, I imagine The Lunatic Fringe is just not competing here.
— Dolph Ziggler: In typical Ziggler fashion, he teased leaving, popped up for the Royal Rumble to not do much of anything, and then disappeared again, because they don’t seem to really have anything in mind for him.
— Elias / Jeff Jarrett: I feel like this feud is already finished and we won’t be seeing anything calling back to it at Elimination Chamber. What else is there to do, really?
— Goldust: Injury (knees). There is no set timetable for his return.
— Jason Jordan: Injury (neck). There is no set timetable for his return, if it ever happens.
— Jinder Mahal: Along with The Singh Brothers, The Modern Day Maharaja is just not a priority right now. He’ll undoubtedly do nothing until the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, so stay tuned to the Fastlane list of superstars missing from the card to see his name on there.
— Kevin Owens: Injury (knee). He is expected back possibly sometime around next month.
— Mojo Rawley: Maybe he’ll talk to himself in a mirror backstage? If not that, nothing else.
— No Way Jose: When you’re the quickest eliminated in the Royal Rumble in one of the worst performances ever in that match, you’re not going to get a spot on the next pay-per-view.
— Roman Reigns: The Big Dog will remain out of action for quite some time as he is suffering from leukemia. There is no timetable for his return.
— Sami Zayn: Injury (two torn rotator cuffs). He is expected back possibly sometime around WrestleMania season.
— Seth Rollins: Rollins is supposedly dealing with a back injury that will prevent him from wrestling. He can heal up and be ready to go in much better condition for WrestleMania.
— Titus O’Neil: Doesn’t it feel like O’Neil is more of an ambassador for WWE these days than an actual active roster competitor? I certainly get that feeling.
From the Raw Women’s Division
— Alexa Bliss / Mickie James: Bliss and James lost their qualifying match to Nia Jax and Tamina, explaining their absence from the card.
— Alicia Fox: Likewise, Fox and Cross came up short against Bayley and Sasha Banks. No further explanation needed there.
— Dana Brooke / Natalya: Natalya and Dana Brooke lost to The Riott Squad and have become embroiled in a feud together, mostly over some airpods and misunderstanding. It’s doubtful those two will have a singles match on the card.
— Ember Moon: Moon is currently out with an elbow injury.
From the Raw Tag Team Division
— The Ascension: Jobbers like Konnor and Viktor don’t get on pay-per-views. It’s a simple rule of thumb.
— The Authors of Pain: With Akam injured, Rezar has been lingering with nothing solid to do, and it’s doubtful that will change until AOP is back to form.
— The B-Team / Lucha House Party: Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, as well as The Lucha House Party (and Heavy Machinery) lost a No. 1 contender’s match to The Revival. They aren’t currently in contention for the Raw Tag Team Championship.
— Breezango: Fandango remains out due to a shoulder injury; Tyler Breeze is stuck in jobber limbo.
— Chad Gable and Bobby Roode / The Revival: After winning the Raw Tag Team Championship, The Revival might have a rematch with Gable and Roode if WWE wants to add another match onto the card. Automatic rematches aren’t a thing anymore, but they can still happen.
— Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder: The whole point of this tag team is that they’re losers who can’t get any headway. In order for that to happen, they have to be looked over for spots on pay-per-views.
— Heath Slater and Rhyno: These two couldn’t even find their way in the mix to fight for the chance to challenge for the tag titles. Of course they aren’t on the card.
From the SmackDown Men’s Singles Division
— Aiden English: For now, we can bet more on seeing Aiden English on the 205 Live commentary table than doing anything in the ring.
— Andrade / Rey Mysterio: These two are firmly in a program together, so a match between the two seems like a surefire thing, if there’s enough room on the card and time to slot them in. Then again, they might just keep them off this card and do this at Fastlane.
— Big Show: When last we saw Big Show, he split from The Bar. It’s been that long, and whether it’s due to injury or just a lack of any creative ideas going on, Big Show is likely going to stay out of the mix until at least WrestleMania, if not longer. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he doesn’t compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and only shows up for the Saudi Arabia show to follow.
— Mustafa Ali: Ali was previously scheduled to compete in the Elimination Chamber match, but a series of injuries have forced him to be taken out of the match.
— R-Truth / Rusev / Shinsuke Nakamura: Either a Triple Threat match happens for the United States Championship, or they’re trying to keep Rusev and Nakamura a tag team, and the US title once again gets pushed aside like it’s been the past 7 or 8 months. Curious how they STILL don’t want to dedicate any time on SmackDown to give this belt and the people surrounding it any of the spotlight. It’s almost like there’s a grudge.
— Shelton Benjamin: At least The Gold Standard was in the Royal Rumble, right? That’s something. It’s more than he’s been doing lately.
— Sin Cara: While he’s supposedly cleared to compete and no longer injured, Sin Cara has yet to make his return. This is likely due to a lack of interest in using him for nothing, as it’s extremely doubtful WWE would dedicate any time to pushing him right now.
— Tye Dillinger: The Perfect 10 has been cleared to compete, but he’s only done so in house shows, rather than SmackDown itself.
From the SmackDown Women’s Division
— Asuka: Curiously, there’s been no traction with the SmackDown Women’s Championship. They haven’t even tried to set up a contender for Asuka. I guess in WWE’s mind, they’ll figure it out entirely starting the week after Elimination Chamber, rush throughout Fastlane in March and then hope it’s good enough. Don’t be shocked if that doesn’t work out.
— Becky Lynch: The whole storyline right now about Becky Lynch is that she’s suspended and won’t be wrestling until after WrestleMania. Of course she’s not advertised for this card!
— Charlotte Flair: As it stands, there’s nothing set up for Charlotte Flair to do, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she makes some kind of an appearance for a promo or backstage segment, just to remind people that she’s a focal point heading into WrestleMania.
— Lana: If Rusev is featured in any fashion, Lana will be by his side. Standard operating procedure.
— Zelina Vega: If Andrade has a match with Rey Mysterio, we’ll see Zelina Vega in Andrade’s corner. If not, she won’t be booked on the card.
From the SmackDown Tag Team Division
— The Bar / The Colons / The Good Brothers / SAnitY: The Bar and The New Day were unsuccessful in their bid to challenge for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship when they lost to The Usos (but Big E and Xavier Woods may accompany Kofi Kingston to the ring). The Good Brothers are barely ever booked and were brought onto the show to lose to Rusev and Nakamura. Meanwhile, if you thought they had it bad, look at how little The Colons and SAnitY have been used. WWE completely forgets about them all the time. No wonder Killian Dain is sitting at home, tweeting about how frustrated he is.
From the 205 Live Cruiserweight Division
— Nearly Everybody: The cruiserweight championship is on the line with Akira Tozawa getting another shot at Buddy Murphy’s title, meaning there won’t be any other representatives from the 205 Live brand on this card—at least, not as currently scheduled. For completionists, this means we’re missing Ariya Daivari, The Brian Kendrick, Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Humberto Carrillo, Lio Rush, Mike Kanellis, Noam Dar, TJP and Tony Nese.
Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
