WWE Elimination Chamber 2020 won’t take place until March after the promotion’s upcoming Pay Per View in Saudi Arabia, but it’s never too early to start contemplating possible title challengers for the Elimination Chamber matches.
Becky Lynch defeated Asuka at the Royal Rumble Pay Per View to remain the Raw Women’s Champion, and while she has a title match on Monday’s episode of WWE Raw against The Empress, she’s fully expected to remain the champion going into WrestleMania 36.
But before WrestleMania, Becky will have to go through the Elimination Chamber Pay Per View in March, which is now the final PPV before the Show of Shows.
There’s still a lot of time left before WWE Elimination Chamber 2020, but Lynch could put her title on the line in a traditional match or in an Elimination Chamber match. In the latter case, she would have to face five women at once in order to retain her title on the road to WrestleMania.
With Shayna Baszler lurking in the shadows as a rumored Raw call-up, let’s take a very early look at five possible challengers for the current Raw Women’s Champion at the Elimination Chamber.
The caveat being, of course, that things could be subject to change, perhaps as soon as Monday’s episode of Raw.
Nia Jax
Out of the five women on this list, Nia Jax is the only one who isn’t actively competing on the roster. She’s been out since WrestleMania 35, where she competed in a Women’s Tag Title match that was eventually won by the IIconics.
Nia needed surgery to repair TWO torn ACLs, and while she’s been spotted working out as she recovers from her injury and was rumored to be a Royal Rumble entrant last month, she hasn’t made her return yet.
But fans should expect her to be back soon. Perhaps WWE will wait until bringing Nia back to television, as she could be a post-WrestleMania 36 surprise. However, Ruby Riott recently turned to feud with a babyface Liv Morgan.
Nia Jax and Becky Lynch have plenty of history together after what happened before Survivor Series 2018, and fans have been waiting for them to have a stand off inside the ring. My colleague Mark Justice predicted Becky vs. Nia as a singles title match at WWE Elimination Chamber 2020, and while I’m not so sure it actually happens, I think it’s definitely a match to keep an eye on.
Some have thrown around the idea of Becky vs. Nia at WrestleMania, but that isn’t a ‘Mania-worthy match. But at the Elimination Chamber as another hurdle for Becky to go through in her reign as champion? It is a possibility, even if it isn’t likely.
Ruby Riott
Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott are busy feuding with each other after Ruby returned to Raw last week and turned on Liv. If Becky Lynch defends the Raw Women’s Championship in an Elimination Chamber match in March, then I could see Ruby and Liv both competing in the bout to further their feud, which has an outside shot at making the WrestleMania 36 card in April.
We’ve seen Riott put on a great match on the PPV before WrestleMania before, as she faced Charlotte Flair in a SmackDown Women’s Championship match at Fastlane 2018 when the Riott Squad first formed. To this day, it remains one of Ruby’s best matches in WWE – if not her No. 1 best – as she nearly caught Charlotte off guard early in the contest.
It’s hard to say whether Ruby or Liv will win their feud, and since they are in an ongoing rivalry, it’s unlikely Becky will have a singles match against either of them. But if she does, Ruby, as the heel, would be the more plausible opponent. WWE wants Liv to be a big babyface, so putting her up against Becky isn’t the best play. If Becky defends her title inside the Chamber, which is what I expect, then, again, I think both women will be in a title match.
Kairi Sane
Kairi Sane and Becky Lynch have had a few singles matches against each other on Raw. The Pirate Princess lost to Becky in October, lost to her in a dark match in early December, and then lost to her again on the Jan. 20 episode of Raw by submission.
Basically, Sane vs. Becky has zero chance of being a singles match for the Raw Women’s Championship at the Elimination Chamber, unless if WWE are extremely bored and fresh out of ideas but still want Becky to get a momentum-boosting win by being on the card before ‘Mania.
However, if Becky puts the title on the line inside WWE’s most intimidating structure, then Kairi will probably be in the match. And her chances of being in a big match at the PPV would increase if the title isn’t defended inside the chamber, but, rather, WWE books a No. 1 Contender’s match for the championship.
We could see Sane and Asuka put their friendship to the test inside the structure, just as others like Sasha Banks and Bayley have in the past. That would make for an interesting storyline, especially since some fans predicted Asuka and Sane picking up shock victories at the Royal Rumble; there’s clear interest in this as a program in 2020.
I don’t see Sane as a likely title opponent, but she’s definitely in the mix if we see a Raw Women’s Title Elimination Chamber match, which could be an early Match of the Year candidate in WWE.
Liv Morgan
In an Elimination Chamber match, Liv Morgan could have a breakout performance. She made the most of her storyline with Lana, which was ostensibly ended after Rusev was taken off television due to a reported contract dispute with WWE.
Liv has always been viewed as a woman with breakout star potential in the company, dating back to her days when the Riott Squad were stealing the show in six-woman tag matches on Raw. Morgan’s selling, acting, and toughness have all been lauded, and she’s a tremendous athlete who could show off her athletic traits and toughness in an Elimination Chamber match.
Becky vs. Liv could be a future title match, but, in this case, “future” would mean in 2021. A March title match between the two is extremely unlikely, especially since WWE will want to slowly build towards Liv’s first title match. The approach of suddenly booking someone in a title match doesn’t really work, as we saw with Ember Moon and Lacey Evans.
But Liv wouldn’t be out of place at all inside the Elimination Chamber, especially since she and Ruby could further their own storyline. There’s real potential in this story, too, as it could be one of Raw’s biggest feuds in the opening months of 2020.
Asuka
Finally, Asuka could be the opponent for Becky Lynch. The two have fought against each other in back-to-back Pay Per Views already, so a third straight match may be too much, especially since the rivals will square off one more time on this coming Raw.
But if Shayna Baszler interferes, then Asuka and Becky could still have one more match on the Road to WrestleMania before Becky finally faces Shayna. (Or Asuka pulls off a surprise title win.)
Asuka and Becky are in “fight forever” territory, as their match at the Royal Rumble this year more than lived up to the hype, successfully building on their incredible match in 2019. Fans even liked the idea of a third match between them at WrestleMania, and while that’s probably not happening, I wouldn’t rule out another showdown on PPV albeit a month earlier.
We could easily see Asuka kill it in an Elimination Chamber match. With her strikes and overall tenacity, she would be built perfectly for this type of match as a vicious, innovative heel who is willing to use the chamber to augment the ferocity of her strikes.
WWE fans eventually tire of matchups, but there are certain rivalries that seem timeless. Like Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio and Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, Becky vs. Asuka has reached that status.