By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
The road to WrestleMania is in full swing, and our next stop is Chicago for WWE’s Elimination Chamber event, taking place tonight at the United Center. Coming out of the show, we’ll know who will be challenging for the respective men’s and women’s WWE Championships – or will we? That may be the case for the women, but for the men, even if there is a single winner tonight, I don’t think we’re done with the twists and turns that get us to Mania. It appears as though Drew McIntyre will be defending his title in a multi-man match. And if you’ve read any of my past articles or reports, you know that I am not a fan. When it comes to Mania, I like my title matches one-on-one. But, since we’re in the era of needing to get everyone on the card, this is where we are. In any event, let’s run down the card!
CM Punk vs. Finn Balor for the World Heavyweight Championship. The outcome for this one seems to be fairly predictable, but I’ve liked the story they’ve told here. To me, Finn Balor is one of those guys that you can not do anything with for a period of time and then heat him up in a meaningful program when called for. He’s consistently gotten over with the crowd no matter the circumstance, and I see this match as part of the continued build to his baby face turn. I expect some miscommunication between Balor, Dom Mysterio, and JD McDonagh, leading to a Judgment Day implosion on Raw, with Balor challenging Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania.
Don Predicts: CM Punk defeats Finn Balor to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
Becky Lynch vs. AJ Lee for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. I have to say that of all the singles women’s champions, Lynch is doing the best work by far, and I’m probably more interested in what she’s doing at WrestleMania than anyone else in the women’s division. Her promos have been stellar, and I have really enjoyed the build to this one. I’m not sure how good the match will be as AJ has about ten years of ring rust to shake off, but you know that she’ll be massively over with the Chicago crowd, which can only further enhance Becky’s heel act. In terms of the outcome, I can’t think of anyone challenging Becky at WrestleMania that would make sense unless they do a huge pivot coming out of this event. That said, I think we’ll see a screwy finish to protect AJ. Then, the program concludes at WrestleMania with a stipulation match of some kind.
Don Predicts: Becky Lynch defeats AJ Lee to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship.
Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Trick Williams vs. Logan Paul in an Elimination Chamber match for a shot at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42. Again, I don’t think the WWE Championship match will be officially locked in after tonight. I do believe we’ll get a winner, but we’ll likely see a lot of outside interference that will factor into whatever path they choose. First, I like the additions of Evans and Williams, as both will be players in years to come. Williams, in particular, has the potential to be a main event star if and when they decide to pull the trigger. I think that while Knight is over with the fans, the company just doesn’t see him at that level. That being said, there are online rumors of a Knight-Brock Lesnar match at Mania. If those are true, we may see Brock cost Knight to set that up. Paul’s inclusion was an audible due to the injury suffered by Bronson Reed on Monday’s Raw. Jey Uso ended up winning the qualifier, but he wasn’t part of the plan, so they ran the injury angle on Smackdown. That leaves Orton and Rhodes. At the end of the day, I think we’re seeing a Cody win, but with enough interference from Drew McIntyre, Jacob Fatu, and Sami Zayn, that a multi-man match will be made. Will it make sense? Only time will tell.
Don Predicts: Cody Rhodes wins the men’s Elimination Chamber match.
Tiffany Stratton vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka vs. Kiana James vs. Raquel Rodriguez in an Elimination Chamber match for a shot at the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 42. Of the two matches, the women usually outshine the men in work rate, so this one should be good. Similar to the men, I like including Kiana James here. Another example of a potential star if they can hit on the right character. And, with Liv Morgan challenging Stephanie Vaquer at Mania for the Women’s World Championship, the winner will challenge Jade Cargill at the big event. Working backwards, I think James and Rodriguez will have a good showing, but it’s not their time. I suspect that Asuka and Ripley will be some kind of multi-team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Titles. With Stratton, I still think there’s potential there, but I don’t see her in the title picture at Mania two years in a row. That leaves Bliss, which makes sense given the story they are telling. I can see a scenario where Bliss pulls double duty at Mania by teaming with Charlotte Flair for the tag team titles in some capacity, while also challenging Jade. All of this will lead to the eventual breakup of Bliss and Flair, likely as part of a post-Mania program.
Don Predicts: Alexa Bliss wins the women’s Elimination Chamber match.
What’s in the mystery crate? 13-year old me was obsessed with the intrigue around the mysterious egg at Survivor Series 1990, only to be disappointed when Hector Guerrero emerged from it dressed in a turkey costume. Yes, years later, the Gobbledy Gooker is looked back on with light-hearted nostalgia, but that wasn’t the case at the time. All that said, I don’t think the crate reveal is designed for some major debut or return. Sorry, Chris Jericho fans. I’m going to go with the widespread speculation of Danhausen making his WWE debut. A crate reveal seems about right and on brand for the character. Will WWE know what to do with him aside from backstage comedy? Picture him and R-Truth in a segment. The only place I can see him having any kind of impact would be AAA. Some kind of pairing with him and Mr. Iguana could be fun.
Don Predicts: Danhausen will be the mystery crate reveal.
Join Jason Powell for his live review of the WWE Elimination Chamber event at 6CT/7ET. Jake Barnett and Jason will co-host a same-night audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Enjoy the Chamber and enjoy wrestling!
I still believe the best way for the Women’s Elimination Chamber to end would be a Raquel Rodriguez victory except instead of her choosing to face Jade Cargill, she inserts herself into the Vaquer/Morgan match to make it a Triple Threat. This could go along with the rest of the Judgment Day break up. The seeds were already planted at the Rumble with Morgan eliminating Rodriguez. They can always just have some kind of #1 contenders match to set up a Jade match at WM because Stratton is the only one that has anything remotely to do with Jade. That title has felt 100% mid-card ever since Jade won it.