RAW Deal: Predicting Elimination Chamber 2018

Joe 'the Grappler' Marsalis

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RAW Deal: Predicting Elimination Chamber 2018
Get ready to witness the first ever women's Elimination Chamber match

LAS VEGAS, USA—This year’s Elimination Chamber is RAW‘s last major stop before WrestleMania, and as you probably already know, it’s a pretty big deal for hosting the first-ever women’s Elimination Chamber match.

RAW‘s top angle concerns who is going to take on Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania for the WWE Universal Championship, and also for the first time in WWE history, the men’s Chamber match will have 7 participants instead of the usual 6. This was done to accommodate Seth Rollins, who until a few weeks back was penciled to face former tag team partner Jason Jordan at WrestleMania—but because Jordan was injured, plans involving Rollins had to change.

So far, there are only 4 scheduled matches on the card; while it’s likely that one more will probably be added (perhaps a RAW Tag Team Championship match, and maybe something involving the cruiserweights on the kickoff show) the lone midcard match goes to show that RAW‘s roster has been so curved by Brock Lesnar’s part-time schedule.

In any case, I’ve got my work cut out for me because of the short card on paper, so let’s begin: 

Titus Worldwide (Titus O’Neil and Apollo) vs. Sheamus and Cesaro for the RAW Tag Team Championship

This isn’t officially announced yet, but don’t be surprised if it gets added to the card either before or during the show. They’ve slowly been building it up on RAW with Titus Worldwide’s small successes against the Bar, but we all know this is only so that the champs have something to do on the show.

Winner: Sheamus and Cesaro

“Woken” Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt

This dream midcard feud has been underwhelming so far, largely due to how much of an afterthought the true RAW midcard is. Their first match came on the Christmas episode of RAW, and then a brief interaction in the Royal Rumble, and in between “Woken” Matt Hardy video promos on the show, this match. I expect something major to happen following this match, because you can’t keep it going without throwing in something big. I expect Hardy to go full #BROKEN and reintroduce members of his Broken Universe before they finally wrap it up at WrestleMania—or somewhere closer.

Winner: “Woken” Matt Hardy

Asuka vs. Nia Jax

If you’re thinking that this is something for Asuka to do while she makes her final choice for WrestleMania… then you’d be correct. They added a stipulation in which Jax would be added to whatever Asuka’s WrestleMania women’s championship match would be, but we all know that adding Jax would just dilute the star power of the eventual bout. They’ve got the correct idea, though, by making this match mean a little something more. At least Jax and Asuka get more than the minimum of effort.

Winner: Asuka

 

Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville vs. Mickie James vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss (c) in an Elimination Chamber for the RAW Women’s Championship

This match, while inherently historic, would be even more historic if half of the women in it were pretty relevant. It’s hurting from the omission of Paige (due to injury), as the rest of Absolution are far from ready to be in this match. In the end, it’s just a way for Alexa Bliss to look even stronger heading into a possible title defense against Asuka at WrestleMania, assuming things are going that way.

Winner: Alexa Bliss

Elias vs. John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor in an Elimination Chamber for the #1 contendership to the WWE Universal Championship

Yes, that’s pretty much everyone who’s a relevant singles star on RAW competing for a shot at Brock Lesnar.

 

While the rumored favorite to go on to WrestleMania against Lesnar is Roman Reigns, I won’t blame you if you’re wondering whether Seth Rollins could possibly go on to win after the monumental gauntlet match performance he gave on this week’s RAW. That was nothing short of starmaking, and Reigns left the match pretty early—granted, he gave a good performance in a solid segment of the gauntlet match, but that’s not quite the way you’d want your favorite to go. Yeah, I get that it was done to make everyone in the match look competitive, but I’d make him look a little stronger. That’s just me, though.

That said, if Rollins wasn’t the guy they wanted to pit Lesnar against, they shouldn’t complain if people want him to be that dude. They made this bed.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Who are your picks for Elimination Chamber? Let’s talk about it! – Rappler.com

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