Predicting the match order at Elimination Chamber 2018

It's one thing to predict the winners and losers at Elimination Chamber 2018, but how about taking a guess at the match order on that card?

WWE has announced 6 different segments for the main card of Elimination Chamber 2018, not counting the pre-show match between Gallows/Anderson and the Miztourage.

Here is my subjective view of how important each of these 6 segments rank on the Elimination Chamber 2018 card, ordered from most important to least important.

1. Men’s Elimination Chamber Match
2. Women’s Elimination Chamber Match
3. Ronda Rousey contract signing
4. Asuka vs. Nia Jax
5. Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt
6. The Bar vs. Titus Worldwide

It is important to come up with a list like this to get an idea of which matches are going to be placed in the key spots on the card or take up the most time, and which matches might end up in the cool-down spots or be given the least amount of time.

Main Event

It’s pretty clear that one of the chamber matches will main event this card.

The first ever women’s Royal Rumble match was attached to the surprise appearance of Ronda Rousey, and that put it over the top as the best choice to main event that card.

This first ever women’s Elimination Chamber match doesn’t have that same hook attached to it. After seeing the men’s chamber participants given a much bigger spotlight on Raw this week, and considering who the 5 star babyfaces are in the men’s match, I think the men have the edge here for the main event spot.

Opening match

Most (but not all) WWE PPVs that have had two chamber matches usually start the show with one of them. And I think that’s probably going to happen on this PPV as well. Hardy versus Wyatt and the tag title match aren’t really hot enough to kick off a show, while Nia Jax doesn’t bring the faster-paced work rate that is usually featured in an opening match. Therefore I’m selecting the women’s chamber match for this spot.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: Women’s Elimination Chamber Match
Segment 2:
Segment 3:
Segment 4:
Segment 5:
Segment 6: Men’s Elimination Chamber Match

Everything else

The second match of the night is usually one of the least important segments, so that means Hardy or The Bar will probably land here. I’m not sure which one to choose yet, so I’ll return to this decision later.

The women’s division should return for Segment 3, in either the form of Asuka vs. Nia Jax or the Ronda Rousey contract signing. I think there’s a pretty good chance that the Rousey segment turns into a major angle and will end up including Stephanie McMahon and/or Triple H. This might overshadow Asuka’s match if it is placed earlier on the show, therefore I’ll put Asuka and Nia Jax into Segment 3.

If Rousey’s segment does turn into a major angle, then it also might be best to throw a cool-down match right after it, so I’ll follow up Asuka’s match with Rousey’s contract signing in Segment 4.

That gives me the following card:

Segment 1: Women’s Elimination Chamber Match
Segment 2: Hardy OR Titus
Segment 3: Asuka vs. Nia Jax
Segment 4: Rousey contract signing
Segment 5: Hardy OR Titus
Segment 6: Men’s Elimination Chamber Match

That leaves me with the two least important matches of the night in Segment 2 and Segment 5. Segment 5 seems especially screwed in this scenario, being sandwiched between Rousey and the main event, so I’ll put the tag title match there because I have it ranked as the least important match of the night.

Finalized card

So here is my final prediction for the match order at Elimination Chamber, along with guesses on the bell-to-bell match times.

Segment 1: Women’s Elimination Chamber Match (28 minutes)
Segment 2: Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt (11)
Segment 3: Asuka vs. Nia Jax (9)
Segment 4: Rousey contract signing
Segment 5: The Bar vs. Titus Worldwide (10)
Segment 6: Men’s Elimination Chamber Match (34)

That's my prediction for the match order at Elimination Chamber. What's yours?