WWE Elimination Chamber

After a successful Royal Rumble, the Raw brand will make their final stop on the road to WrestleMania at Elimination Chamber. Sunday’s show is co-headlined by a men’s and a women’s Elimination Chamber match. The winner of the men’s match moves on to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania for the Universal title. Alexa Bliss will be defending her women’s title inside the chamber, which is the biggest possible champion’s disadvantage I can think of. Let’s get to the preview and predictions!

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Ronda Rousey Contract Signing

Ronda Rousey will officially sign her WWE contract Sunday night. I’ve already given my take on the Rousey-WWE partnership, but I don’t have a clue what they have planned here. The only thing I can think if some type of confrontation with Stephanie McMahon. The rest of the Raw women’s division will be preoccupied with their matches, so I don’t expect any of them to get involved. Plus, the plan seems to be Rousey and a partner vs. HHH/Stephanie at WrestleMania, even though everyone online loves to complain about Rousey getting a title shot at the big show. There’s been no indication of that and it wouldn’t make sense with Asuka/Nia Jax already in the title picture. Hopefully the Las Vegas crowd gives Ronda a deserving applause, and we get a peek at what’s next for the Rowdy one.

‘Woken’ Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt

What’s the opposite of exciting? A piece of wood? This Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt has been the wrestling equivalent of a piece of wood. That’s not pessimism, either. That’s just reality. I’m a huge Wyatt fan, and ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy was one of the most unique wrestlers in recent memory, but their feud has been bad. It’s been made up of short matches, dueling backstage promos and laugh off’s. All those wary of a Hardy/Wyatt feud when Hardy was still in TNA have been proven right, because WWE creative is basically Vincent Adultman when it comes to giving Wyatt something meaningful to do. Need an example? Watch the link I added in above. THAT is the build to their match at Elimination Chamber.

This feud is dead in the water, so I think it’s time to move on to something interesting. Let Wyatt beat Hardy, turning him from ‘Woken’ to ‘Broken’ (since he now owns the rights to that character). Let them team up and form a revamped version of the Broken Universe from TNA. This would ideally give them a better storyline than they have now and add a fresh tag team to the stale as hell Raw tag division.

Prediction: Bray Wyatt

Asuka vs. Nia Jax

While this could be viewed as a throw away match, it actually has a lot going to for it. If Nia Jax wins, she joins the Raw women’s title match at WrestleMania. In addition, Asuka’s winning streak will be in the most danger it’s ever been in on the main roster. These two have fought in NXT and on Raw, so you know they can have quality matches together. Nia is the only woman on the roster that forces Asuka to fight from underneath, and it’s always fun to watch Asuka adapt. Asuka might be quicker and more experienced, but Nia’s strength makes up for it.

This match is a tough call. The better story for WrestleMania would feature Alexa and Nia in some kind of title match. You also don’t want to end Asuka’s historic streak right before she has her first title match at WrestleMania. With Nia ambushing Asuka on Raw, I could see this ending in a double count out with both women brawling on the outside. I’m not a fan of ending pay per view matches like that, but these two still have a lot of story to tell.

Prediction: Double count out

Tag Team Title Match: The Bar vs. Titus Worldwide

The only downside to the incredible two hour gauntlet match on Raw was it left little time to build up other storylines for Elimination Chamber. One of those storylines is the tag titles, which hasn’t been interesting in far too long. The Bar have been fighting Titus and/or Apollo (Crews no more) for what feels like the entirety of 2018. Sometimes The Bar come out on top, sometimes Titus Worldwide wins. I guess that was enough for Titus Worldwide to get a title shot, which is fine, but not overly exciting. The tag team division needs a hard reset, and I think teams like The Revival and a Hardy/Wyatt partnership could help things. It wouldn’t make sense for The Bar to lose their titles before WrestleMania, especially when Titus Worldwide haven’t been built up as legitimate challengers.

Prediction: The Bar

Women’s Elimination Chamber

Mark it on your calendar, folks. The first ever women’s elimination chamber match is this Sunday, and it’s time for them to make history.
Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, Mandy Rose, Sonja Deville and Alexa Bliss all vie for the Raw Women’s Championship in a grueling every woman for herself match inside 60 million pounds of steel. Or however many pounds Michael Cole says these days. I was there for the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell match and those ladies delivered. There’s no doubt in my mind they will do it again on the road to WrestleMania. Expect a stable alignment, some star making spots and possibly an unexpected pin from Mandy Rose and/or Sonja Deville. I highly doubtful either of them walks out the new champ, though.

Personally I’d like to see a strong showing out of Mickie James. Think of this as a resume builder for her eventual Hall of Fame induction. Bonus points if she lands a Mick Kick at any point.
The main story here is between Bayley, Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss. The bond between Bayley and Banks will continue to crack, and ultimately lead to the ever opportunistic Alexa Bliss retaining her title. That sets up a collision course with Asuka (and possibly Nia Jax) at the grandest stage of them all. More importantly, all the women will leave this match with their stars shining brighter than ever before as the women’s revolution continues to destroy barriers.

Prediction: Alexa Bliss

Men’s Elimination Chamber

This is the first ever Elimination Chamber match with seven participants. Other than that, the rules remain the same. Two men will begin the match, with a new man allowed to enter from their pod every five minutes. Miz will be the first entrant, while Elias will be the last. The winner of the match will challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal title at WrestleMania.

This match is similar to the Royal Rumble odds system. While there are 7 men in the match, not all of them have the same odds of winning. I think you can count out Rollins, Balor, Elias & Miz. Rollins had his star making performance on Raw, and while I think he puts on a show again Sunday, I would be shocked if he won. Elias is a definite star in the making, but I can’t imagine putting him in the main event of WrestleMania just yet. Miz and Balor would be the perfect heel/face dynamic feud for the IC title at WrestleMania, so I hope that’s the route they go with those two. If WWE can find a way to develop that feud within the chamber, that would be ideal.

That leaves us with Cena, Strowman and Reigns. Before I scare you: no, I do not think John Cena is winning. Based on Monday’s gauntlet match, I do think he and Reigns will be the final two. Only Reigns and Cena didn’t pick up a win in the gauntlet, while the other five guys were allowed their time to shine. Plus, if Reigns is going to win, it would make sense for him to beat Cena last, who is the only guy crowds want to see win less than Reigns.

The Potential Winners

If you’re a wrestling fan on the internet, chances are you’ve seen the rumors for the last 9 months that WWE wants Reigns/Lesnar at Mania. In a snow globe, the rematch from WrestleMania 31 sounds awesome. Reigns and Lesnar beat the crap out of each other in that match, and Reigns is always at his best when he’s tested physically. If that’s the route WWE chooses to go, people will be mad, but it’s not the worst option. It’s also not the best option. Outside of that Reigns/Lesnar snow globe is the most popular man in WWE, the mother f’ing Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman.

If you’ve been watching WWE pretty much any time over the past year, you know this is Braun Strowman’s time. He’s one of the most physically gifted men WWE has ever had, and he’s improving each and every week. He’s good enough on the microphone with his short, impactful promos and crowds are literally giddy whenever he shows up. I can’t remember a time when a man was this ready for his moment, but Strowman should 100% be in the main event of WrestleMania. Just like Reigns and Lesnar, Braun and Brock match up perfectly from a physicality standpoint. And if Braun wins? That would set up future title feuds with Reigns, Rollins, Balor, Cena, Samoa Joe, etc. While he would technically be ‘the guy’, the roster is so deep he wouldn’t have to carry ANY of those feuds.

Because WWE loves to torture it’s fans, Reigns will enter the chamber as the favorite, but Braun should be the winner.

Prediction: Head – Roman Reigns. Heart – Braun Strowman

-Ryan