This Sunday will be the last major stop on the road to WrestleMania for the Raw brand as WWE will present the Elimination Chamber PPV. This show will be historic because it will include the first-ever Women’s Chamber match as well as the first-ever Men’s Chamber match that will include seven participants rather than the traditional six. This show will also include “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey officially signing her WWE Raw contract.
As of the time of this writing, only four matches have been confirmed so far. I’m here to give you my thoughts on who will win each match on this show. I’ll also start by saying that I’m predicting that we get The Bar vs. Titus Worldwide for the Tag Team titles. While that match has not been confirmed, I’m assuming that we see it considering the current storyline between the two teams. If this match does indeed happen, my quick prediction is that The Bar retain their titles.
“Woken” Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt
It seems like it’s been years already since Matt Hardy became “Woken” on WWE TV.
This angle started off HOT but quickly lost steam over the next handful of weeks. Woken Matt has been the victim of poor booking from the perspective that WWE creative clearly doesn’t understand the character or what made it such a success in TNA.
This feud between Hardy and Wyatt should have been something special but we’ve seen them square off multiple times now and Wyatt hasn’t had any issue getting wins over Hardy. What hurts this feud even more is the fact that Wyatt hasn’t been a credible threat as a “top guy” in around a year, so even if Hardy defeats him, it really isn’t that big of a deal.
Source: WWE.com
I really don’t see the point of doing this match at this PPV unless Woken Matt is going to finally get a decisive victory over Wyatt but it has to be done in a creative way for it to matter whatsoever. I absolutely hated the House of Horrors match as well as the theatrics that were used during Wyatt vs. Orton at WrestleMania last year. I also thought it was incredibly cheesy when WWE tried to recreate a type of “Final Deletion” match between the Wyatt Family and the New Day a while back. I mention these things because I expect WWE to give this type of match one last chance on this PPV.
I think that Wyatt vs. Hardy will have a different presentation from what we normally see on WWE TV. With the recent signing of longtime TNA employee, Jeremy Borash I think that this will be his first time to shine since defecting over. I’m hoping that Borash is able to work some of his magic along with Hardy to help recreate how great the “Broken Universe” was for Hardy over at TNA.
Since we’ve seen this match a few times before with Wyatt having no problems defeating Hardy, I expect the “Woken Warrior” to finally get a win over Wyatt and move on to something bigger for WrestleMania.
Prediction – “Woken” Matt Hardy
Source: WWE.com
Asuka vs. Nia Jax
This is a match that I’m not really looking forward to because the outcome seems so obvious.
No matter how WWE books Jax, I don’t believe for a second that she’s beating Asuka. Jax even destroyed Asuka on Raw last night and it did nothing but make me believe even stronger that Jax is losing this match.
To be fair, it wouldn’t matter if it was Jax or any other woman in the WWE because there’s no way that Asuka is losing her undefeated streak that’s lasted over two years right before the biggest match of her career on her first ever WrestleMania. I’m expecting to see Jax dominate most of the match while getting multiple nearfalls, but Asuka will fire up and come back to get the win.
There’s really not a lot to say about this one other than I hope they put on an entertaining match. If Nia can convince me that she’s going to win, even for just a second, they’ll have done their job.
Prediction – Asuka
Source: WWE.com
Women’s Elimination Chamber for the Raw Women’s Championship
Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Bayley vs. Mandy Rose vs. Mickie James vs. Sasha Banks vs. Sonya Deville
To be honest, the only reason I’m looking forward to this match at all is because it’s the first of its’ kind.
The only thing that really interests me about the match itself is the potential dynamic between Bayley and Sasha because I fully expect one to turn on the other soon leading to a match between the two at WrestleMania. That said, I don’t think that either Bayley or Sasha will win the Chamber match.
Mickie James is just kind of there. I don’t really know how else to say it. Mickie is being positioned as Bliss’s ally to help her overcome the odds if she’s left in there with members of Absolution. There’s no way that Mickie will win this match.
Sonya Deville is going to become “obsolete” (as Matt Hardy would say) the second that Ronda Rousey signs her Raw contract and/or when Shayna Baszler makes her jump to the main roster.
Mandy Rose is hot garbage in the ring. Rose is obviously very attractive physically but as Bruce Prichard always says, “then the bell has to ring”. I’ll also take this time to comment that Absolution would be the lamest stable I’ve seen in years within the WWE but that honor is currently held by the Riott Squad over on SmackDown.
Alexa Bliss has the most entertaining character of any of the women in this match and is really the only woman I can see winning this match. I expect Sasha to be the main woman to carry this match but it’s going to be a tall task. I’m hoping that Sasha and Bayley can come together to salvage what I expect to be a pretty disappointing match.
I’ll guess that it comes down to Bliss vs. Banks with Bliss somehow escaping with the win and her title.
Prediction – Alexa Bliss
Source: WWE.com
Men’s Elimination Chamber
Braun Strowman vs. Elias vs. Finn Balor vs. John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz
I can’t start talking about this match without mentioning the FANTASTIC gauntlet match that we saw last night on Raw.
Seth Rollins came off like a bigger star than he has in years, Reigns and Cena played their parts to perfection, Elias played spoiler, Balor looked strong, The Miz continues to be a heat magnet, and Strowman won the match to continue looking like a monster among men.
WWE has done a great job of keeping me interested to see this Men’s Elimination Chamber match because of how great the story leading into this show has been. The clear favorite in this match has to be Roman Reigns, considering that there have been rumors since WrestleMania 33 that Reigns vs. Lesnar for the Universal Title would be headlining WrestleMania 34. But even knowing that, there is still some doubt because of the story the other participants have been involved in.
In John Cena’s mind, he NEEDS to win in the Chamber because he needs a clear path to WrestleMania. Cena is also chasing the elusive 17th World Championship win to put him above Ric Flair for all-time title wins in the WWE. Cena winning #17 at WrestleMania does seem like the perfect scenario.
The Miz isn’t winning this match as it doesn’t make sense for him to do anything other than continue to defend his Intercontinental Championship heading into ‘Mania, although The Miz is definitely doing the best work of his career and deserves his spot in this match as much as anyone else.
Finn Balor could enter a new level of Superstardom with a win in the Chamber and a high-profile match against Brock but I feel like the seeds have been planted for Finn vs. The Miz for the IC Title at WrestleMania (which I think will be a great match and the right booking decision given the circumstances).
Seth Rollins is a wildcard in this one, especially after his record-breaking performance last night on Raw but while I’d love to see Rollins pick up this win, I think WWE will pivot from what was supposed to be Rollins vs. Jordan to Rollins vs. Angle at ‘Mania.
Elias has no chance of winning but to his credit he’s been able to generate amazing responses from the crowd in recent weeks. I’ll make the bold prediction that even though Elias has the advantage of coming into this match last, I still think he’ll be the first man eliminated from the Chamber.
Then there’s Braun Strowman, who seems to be the main favorite other than Roman. The issue with Strowman is that I feel like the ship has sailed for him against Lesnar, at least for now.
My predictions for eliminations are that all seven of the members of this match will be in the ring at the same time so Elias will still be the first eliminated, The Miz and/or Miztourage do something to eliminate Balor, The Undertaker makes an appearance that leads to Cena’s elimination, Strowman will have the most eliminations and it will come down to Strowman vs. Reigns as the final two.
Next: The Top 10 Greatest Moments In Elimination Chamber History
Reigns will defeat Strowman after using the Chamber to help him overcome the monster which will indeed set up Reigns vs. Lesnar for the Universal Title at WrestleMania.