By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Join me for my live review of WWE Elimination Chamber tonight. Jake Barnett, Will Pruett, and I will team up for an exclusive same night audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: I would love to see Sami win the championship in Montreal. But this finish isn’t only about tonight. Not with WrestleMania up next on the schedule. The only path I see to a Sami win is if Paul Levesque has The Rock up his sleeve to face Roman in a non-title match at WrestleMania. Even in that scenario, that would seemingly leave Zayn to face fellow babyface Cody Rhodes in what feels an awkward championship match for WrestleMania.
In other words, I’m going with the obvious. Reigns retains the championship with help from Jey Uso. Roman faces Rhodes at WrestleMania. Kevin Owens, who I suspect will be Sami’s savior from a post match Bloodline beatdown, will team with Zayn to challenge Jey and Jimmy Uso at WrestleMania. And you know what? Those are two awesome WrestleMania matches on paper. Tonight will be special. It just feels unlikely to have the storybook ending that many fans are craving.
Roman Reigns retains the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley: I had this pegged as Lashley somehow cheating to win, perhaps with help from his old Hurt Business sidekicks. I assumed they were going to use this match to set up a blowoff match between Lesnar and Lashley. But then Bray Wyatt indicated on Smackdown that he’s next in line for the winner of this match. It’s an interesting twist, as neither Lesnar nor Lashley stand out as obvious dance partners for Wyatt. Lashley has gotten the better of Lesnar lately and I don’t see Lesnar losing this feud. So as odd as a Lesnar vs. Wyatt match seems on paper, it is a spectacle and thus it’s the one I’m going with.
Brock Lesnar wins.
Edge and Beth Phoenix vs. Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor: The only finish that should not happen is Ripley losing clean by pinfall or submission. If Edge and Balor are going to work together at WrestleMania, then the heels should go over, perhaps with some help from Dominik Mysterio. If Edge has another dance partner for the big show, then he should beat Balor clean. While I’m sure they would have a good match together, I can’t say that Edge vs. Balor jumps off the page as a hot WrestleMania match. Still, I can’t think of a marquee opponent for Edge unless he faces the Lesnar vs. Lashley loser, so I’m guessing that they extend this feud.
Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor win.
Asuka vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Nikki Cross vs. Liv Morgan vs. Natalya vs. Carmella in an Elimination Chamber match for a shot at the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania: Asuka beat Morgan twice on television this week. Under the old booker, that would have been a slam dunk sign that anyone other than Asuka would be winning this match. Times have changed. The new look Asuka is the most logical opponent for Bianca Belair and she’s also the most likely of this bunch to have a great match with the Raw Women’s Champion. Rodriguez is my dark horse candidate, but it just doesn’t feel like this is her year to be in a championship match at WrestleMania.
Asuka wins the Elimination Chamber match to earn a shot at the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.
Austin Theory vs. Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Montez Ford vs. Damian Priest in an Elimination Chamber match for the U.S. Championship: I like seeing so many fresh faces in the Chamber match. That said, I think the match would have been more compelling had this been a situation where the winner was able to choose whether to challenge for the U.S. Title or the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania. There’s a lot of buzz about Theory facing John Cena, which could be a reason to move the belt off of Theory. Rollins is clearly working with Logan Paul and they don’t need the title. Reed and Ford would be really fun as surprise winners. I’m playing it safe by sticking with the champion retaining and getting a needed boost.
Austin Theory retain the U.S. Championship.
I hope you are right about Asuka, but I have a bad feeling that standard WWE booking is going to prevail here and Liv Morgan is going to win “against the odds”. Unfortunately the Rumble showed that despite the change in regime, they are still inexplicably hellbent on pushing Morgan.
I don’t get the Liv love either. She is talented, but she just hasn’t clicked as a face of the division type.
Liv is popular because she is pretty – but in that “attainable/girl next door” kinda way. And also because kids esp young girls really seem to like her.
She is Mid at best but I have to admit she has grown on me over time
Well, yeah. But it’s not enough. She’s missing something. For her sake, I hope she keeps working hard and puts it all together. If nothing else, at least she no longer paints her tongue green.
You’re not predicting a surprise Barry Horowitz appearance?
Well, I didn’t do Kickoff Show predictions.
Great preview. Logical, balanced, with no bias. Refreshing based on other site out there. Keep it up. That’s all I have. Excuse the positivity.