JC's Take: WWE Elimination Chamber Preview
Hey everyone. Welcome back for my preview of this Sunday's Elimination Chamber PPV. There are only 4 matches announced for this card so far, but I would suspect that we will get 1 or 2 more matches on the show itself. Maybe a tag title match with Santino & Kozlov taking on The Corre, and I would assume we would get some kind of Divas Title Match.
The build to this PPV has been ok, but it was obviously over shadowed by the return of The Rock this week. Let me say that I thought The Rock's performance on RAW this past Monday was great. It was one of the best moments on RAW in the last five years. The Rock came out and showed everyone in the back how to cut a great promo. His interaction with Michael Cole was great. And of course, his mocking of John Cena was superb. Is it leading to a match at Wrestlemania? I don't think so. Everyone wants it, but The Rock doesn't need it. He has said that he is done wrestling. He doesn't have anything left to prove. Wrestling an actual match might also hurt his position in Hollywood, because people look down on wrestling up there. I expect some kind of confrontation between The Rock and John Cena at Mania, but not a match. My best guess would be that The Rock somehow gets involved with a potential John Cena/Miz match, since he mentioned both men by name this past Monday.
But enough gushing over The Rock, lets move on to the preview of Elimination Chamber.
Kofi Kingston vs Alberto del Rio
The primary reason this match is happening is to get Alberto del Rio on the PPV. The guy is the top star on Smackdown right now, and you could make an argument that he is the best thing in the WWE right now. I'd probably put him #2 behind C.M. Punk. Kofi has had interactions with del Rio the last couple weeks. He came to the aid of Hornswoggle to start. Last Friday they had a very short match which saw del Rio go over clean with the armbar. Why give away the match on TV only to have it on PPV 10 week later? Smackdown has had some questionable booking in the last couple of months. Anyways, I would expect this match to go a little bit longer than five minutes this time. Kofi gets some offense in to look good, but del Rio wins it in the end with the armbar. He can't lose here heading into his Title match at Mania.
WINNER: Alberto del Rio
WWE Championship: The Miz (c) vs Jerry Lawler
There are lots of varying opinions on this match. Some people are happy to see Jerry Lawler get a main event program, and what is more than likely his last big run in the WWE. I'm in that group. The guy deserves it. There are other people who feel that The Miz is being wasted on Lawler, and he could be doing much better than him. I'm sure those people felt that way even more after watching Miz fight Daniel Bryan this past Monday. They had a great match, and after their encounters last fall, it's quite obvious that these two work well together. But the difference is, no matter how much Lawler haters won't admit it: Jerry Lawler in a WWE Title match on PPV will get more buys than Daniel Bryan in a WWE Title match on PPV. Is it going to be a better match? Probably not. But the storyline has been played out well. And the crowd will be more behind Lawler than they would Bryan.
Even though they really only had one week to build to this match, it's been slowly getting built over the last couple months. The constant interactions between Lawler and Cole on commentary, Lawler's TLC match with The Miz, and their other interactions in tag matches have all been building to this. Despite his age, Lawler knows how to build an effective program. His promo exchange with Miz two weeks ago was good. He kept it simple rather than over-complicating things. Lawler also knows how to tell a story in the ring. He can build to the high point of a match effectively.
How is the match going to go? I think The Miz goes over here. However, I would not put it out of the realm of possibility to see Lawler win and have a one day title reign. With all the talk of Lawler never winning the WWE title, along with the untimely passing of his mother, it could be a great feel good story and an emotional moment in the ring. There will be some people who wouldn't like that. I wouldn't be against it, but I don't see it happening. Even if it was a "fluke" win, the WWE can't afford to hurt the credibility of The Miz heading into Wrestlemania. But I also don't see The Miz winning cleanly here, simply because he has not been booked like that during his title reign. I think Miz wins with the help of Michael Cole, setting up the anticipated Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole match at Wrestlemania.
WINNER: The Miz
Smackdown Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Title
***NOTE*** Before anyone continues reading, this preview will contain spoilers regarding Friday's Smackdown.
Looking at the 6 men in this match, I think it is fairly certain who is winning this one. With Alberto del Rio already announcing that he will take on the World Heavyweight Champion at Wrestlemania, it automatically knocks off any heels chances of winning the match. Sorry Kane, Drew McIntyre, and Wade Barrett. Why didn't I put Dolph Ziggler down on that list? Because of the whole mess of an angle that happens on Smackdown this Friday. Vickie strips Edge of the World Title and awards it to Dolph Ziggler, only for Teddy Long to come back and announces that he's stripping Ziggler of the title. The two fight later for the World Title, with Edge winning. Because Edge won, Dolph loses his spot in the Elimination Chamber. First the World Title is defended in a 3-on-2 intergender match, then a non-official WWE referee makes a pin count, then that mess. Since when did Vince Russo return to the WWE???
Who will be the 6th person in the match? I wouldn't expect anybody big. My guess is that more than likely Dolph Ziggler finds his way back into the match. They could throw Big Show in there. A long shot could be a returning Christian. But the only real options to win this match are Edge and Rey Mysterio. And since Rey Mysterio and Alberto del Rio just had a long program this past fall, Edge gets the nod here. How will it go? Lets say Edge and Drew McIntyre start. They go at it until Kane comes in. Kane and McIntyre work over Edge when Ziggler comes in next. Edge goes to spear Ziggler but he moves and instead Edge hits Kane, eliminating him. Rey's out next. He comes in and hits McIntyre with the 619 and West Coast Pop, eliminating Drew. Barrett is out last. He eliminates Mysterio by catching him mid-air and pinning him after delivering Wasteland. Ziggler's ou next after an Edge roll-up. Barrett and Edge then go at it until Edge spears Barrett through one of the pods, allowing him to pick-up the victory.
WINNER: Edge
RAW Elimination Chamber: Winner gets a WWE Title Shot at Wrestlemania 27
Even though the Smackdown EC is for the World Title, I think this match will go last. There are bigger stars in this match, well other than R-Truth. Hopefully he knows what city they're in Sunday. Before The Rock came out Monday, the build to this match ended with John Cena and Randy Orton standing tall in the ring. Usually when that happens in the wrestling world, you go against said person in their match at the PPV. I don't think that will be the case this Sunday.
To me, this is another easy one to pickout. The Miz is the WWE Champion. Out of all the men in this match, who has he had the most interaction with recently? That's right, John Cena. Before the Royal Rumble, they had a promo exchange on RAW. Then The Miz eliminated Cena in the Rumble match. John Cena retaliated by distracting Miz during is match with Edge, which gave Edge the victory. I think it is pretty evident that the WWE is building towards Cena/Miz at Mania. The only way that is not happening is if the WWE secretly does have The Rock signed on for a match, and we're getting Rock/Cena at Mania. In that scenario, I see the WWE Title match being Miz/Morrison. But I put that scenario at about 1%.
So how does this one play out? Morrison and Punk start off. R-Truth is in next. Cena comes out fourth and eliminates his buddy R-Truth with the Attitude Adjustment. Sheamus is in fifth, and Orton comes in last. The Viper strikes, RKOing Sheamus and eliminating him. After the delivering the RKO, Punk sneaks up from behind and low blows Orton, giving him the GTS and scoring the pin. Now we're down to Cena, Punk, and Morrison. Punk is able to hit the GTS on Cena, but Morrison hits him with a kick to the head, followed by a running knee then Starship Pain, eliminating Punk. Morrison and Cena staredown each other than the Wrestlemania 27 logo. After a ton of counters and near falls, Cena is finally able to hit the AA on Morrison for the win.
WINNER: John Cena
I expect the show to be good. The competitors in both Chamber matches are capable of putting on a quality wrestling performance. Miz/Lawler should have a good amount of drama in it, and anything with Alberto del Rio is usually good.
So, some of you may have noticed the "Batista to TNA???" heading in the title. Now, I'm in no way claiming this to be reliable, nor do I have anything to back up this statement. I'm just going off of what I was told.
A close friend of mine recently moved down to Orlando, and has attended a handful of Impact tapings. He recently spoke to a TNA worker, and this worker told him that Batista has signed with TNA and that he will be debuting with them in the next couple months.
Like I said, I would take this with a grain of salt. My friend would have no reason to lie to me. He believed the guy enough to call me immediately after he was told. I know the TNA worker isn't a wrestler, that's all. But if it happens, I look like good and you know where you heard it first. If it doesn't, I just started a false rumor. But that is nothing new in the wrestling business.
That's all for this week. Elimination Chamber Review on Monday.
Until next time,
Justin C
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