22nd Feb2014

‘WWE Elimination Chamber 2014’ Preview

by Chris Cummings

Elimination-Chamber

So here we are, in the midst of the “Road to WrestleMania”, a time of year when WWE pull out the stops and attempt to pull back casual fans for their biggest annual PPV, WrestleMania. We’re a month away from that, and that means we are about to see Elimination Chamber, an event built around a main event cage match featuring six participants fighting for the title, and chances are the winner will go on to WrestleMania to defend the belt against the winner of the Royal Rumble, who this year was, as we know, Batista.

So, lets take a look at the matches that have, currently, been booked and what I feel might be the outcome. I’ve been wrong plenty of times, but it’s always fun to predict outcomes and compare them at the end of the show. So, lets get on with it shall we?

Pre-show Kick-off Match: Curtis Axel & Ryback vs. Cody Rhodes & Goldust

How the Rhodes have changed course. It was only a month ago that Cody and his older brother Dustin were standing tall as Tag Champions, but they lost to the Old Age Outlaws and have since found themselves stranded without much to do on television, resulting in this pre-show match against the floundering Curtis Axel and Ryback. These four men have fallen down the card considerably over the previous months and I feel like the Rhodes brothers deserve much better treatment than this. They were very over a couple of months ago and should still be shining in big matches. Still, this isn’t going to happen here, so we should try to just enjoy this match the best we can. I don’t see any reason to book the Rhodes brothers to lose here unless it is to set up the potential Cody/Goldie WrestleMania match that has been spoken of for years. This is really the final chance to see a break-up occur to lead to a match at Mania, or at least show some sort of split possibility. Will they split this team now that Prime Time Players have broken up though? Who knows? Either way, I’d like to see the brother tandem win here, and think that they just might.

Who will win? Cody Rhodes and Goldust

Now, onto the main show…

Grudge Match: Darren Young vs. Titus O’Neil

I’d be lying if I said I was ever a fan of The Prime Time Players. There have been moments where I’ve seen potential in Darren Young, he has shown some decent athletic style in the ring and can pull out some cool moves when time allows him to, but Titus has always seemed like the clumsy one to me, the one who needs to be shoved into a tag team in order to hide his many in-ring flaws, but because of his size, it seems that WWE see potential in him, and so they went through with the split of the team on a recent Smackdown which leads us to this one-on-one match. I was surprised to see WWE put this on the PPV as these blow-off matches usually just happen on television nowadays. I don’t have much faith that we will be seeing a wrestling clinic here, or even a good match for that matter, so I hope they keep it short, to the point and without too many damn rest holds. There seems to be only one outcome to this match if we are to believe that WWE want to push Titus as a singles guy after this feud is done.

Who will win? Titus O’Neil.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Big E (c) vs. Jack Swagger

Big E, or as I’ve come to know him recently, Clumbs E, defends his I-C title here against the former World Heavyweight Champion and one half of The Real Americans, Jack Swagger. Swaggs has shown a lot of piss and vinegar and skill in the tag matches he’s had with Cesaro as his partner and I’ve enjoyed him much more in his current tag team role than ever before, but we know he is capable of having a decent singles match with the right guy. Is Big E the right guy? I’m not sure. There is obviously potential there with Big E, but he is very reckless in the ring, has caused injury to his opponents on a few occasions in his short main roster career and is still very green. His character need a lot of work and I just don’t think he is ready for a sustained singles run yet, I think he should be in a team with a more experienced worker at this point, or at least further down the card. Still, WWE like him and he has his moments, so I think they will stick with him as I-C champion for the time being. Swagger might just get a decent match out of him too.

Who will win? Big E

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The New Age Outlaws (c) vs. The Uso’s

This match is weird to me. I want, quite strongly, for The Uso’s to win and have a run as tag champions. They deserve it after having such golden showings over the last few months with the likes of The Shield, The Real Americans, The Wyatt Family and The Rhodes Brotherhood. They are just ready for a run, and all that stands in their way is WWE pulling the trigger, and two middle-aged mediocre workers who are getting a random chance at a final run, in The New Age Outlaws. I don’t want to see Billy Gunn shaking his ass anymore. I don’t want to hear The Roadie doing his 1998-era mic-work anymore. I want to see a young, talented and energetic tag team get a chance to shine against others like them, and in time for WrestleMania where they can attempt to steal the show. The Outlaws shouldn’t be a part of that, and I hope to Vince they’re not. But who knows? I don’t. I’ll just predict from the heart and not from that awkward feeling in my guts.

Who will win? The Uso’s

Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio

Oh boy. I am not interested in seeing these two men wrestle. Del Rio can have, without doubt, some great matches with the right opponents (see Dolph Ziggler), but he’s a charisma vacuum at times, and his opponent is a guy who is obviously going to win the match. So why do I care? I know Batista, in only his second match back in WWE in four years, is going to win. I can’t think of a reason for this match to exist except to allow Batista to go into Mania looking strong. I can see Del   Rio possibly being cheered over Dave here, which might be the match’s only saving grace for me personally. Man, I don’t care about this match.

Who will win? Batista.

Six Man Tag Team Match: The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family

This is one match that I am excited to see on this fairly mediocre looking card. The fans really seem to have latched on to this match in recent weeks, and the stand-offs between The Shield and The Wyatt’s have received big reactions from the fans. Reigns is likely to be booked strongly here, alongside Bray Wyatt, as both men are seemingly in WWE’s sights as guys who they intend to push strongly in 2014. I could actually see this going either way. Will The Shield crack open and perhaps even split? Will The Wyatt Family fall to the strongest faction in recent WWE history? Will there be a rift in one of the teams that causes one team to lose? Will there be some sort of interference? The questions are there, and that is why this match is so interesting to so many people. I am excited to see what happens here, and I’m pretty confident that this will be a hot match with some great spots. I’m going to guess based on the potential Shield break-up.

Who will win? The Wyatt Family

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match: Randy Orton (c) vs. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena vs. Sheamus vs. Christian vs. Cesaro

This should be fun. Randy Orton defends his title against five men here. I think the likely winners are kind of between Orton, Bryan and Cena, but I love that Cesaro has been placed in the match because he is one of the best WWE has to offer and should have some great moments here. There have been rumours about the outcome to this match but no-one really has any idea what WWE have planned. I am having a difficult time choosing who I think will win between Bryan and Orton, but I think we might see Bryan get screwed in some manner again, leading to Orton walking out as champion. The booing will be off the charts if this does happen, but I think it is certainly possible. Who knows? I am less confident with the Road to Wrestlemania booking predictions this year than ever before.

Who will win? Randy Orton
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So, there it is, my preview and predictions for this Sunday’s Elimination Chamber PPV. The outcome of the main event is up in the air as far as I’m concerned. I really have no idea what they are going to do. The end of Royal Rumble really threw a spanner in the works of what WWE had initially planned, and with CM Punks possible quitting, there is a big spot open that wasn’t a month ago. I think it’s obvious that fans want to see Bryan in the main event of Mania, and I think WWE would be silly to not have it happen. Why would they want the biggest show of the year, during the biggest sales pitch of all time with the WWE Network, not want to give the fans what they want? I know it can’t all be about fan service, but I think Daniel Bryan has earned his spot at the top of the WrestleMania card, and if it doesn’t happen, we very well may see booing as the thirtieth Mania goes off the air.

Until next time!

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