As the Road to Wrestlemania begins to reach its conclusion, WWE make one final stop at Elimination Chamber. In previous years the Elimination Chamber matches have been one of the highlights of the entire year. Using the event to set up feuds and matches for Wrestlemania, Elimination Chamber is pivotal in the company’s run in to the grandest stage of them all.
First created and debuted at Survivor Series 2002, handing Shawn Michaels his first ever World Heavyweight Championship and his first top tier Championship since 1998, the structure has gone on to rightfully claim a pay per view all of its own. Now, eleven years after its creation, with Wrestlemania 29 baring down upon us, Elimination Chamber 2013 could ultimately decide how successful the big event is going to be. Unusually for for a 'B' level pay per view event, a lot rides on the moment the Chamber door closes.
WWE Championship Match
(c) The Rock vs C.M Punk
After most of the WWE Universe were disappointed by the outcome of the WWE Championship Match at Royal Rumble, and I will add, voiced their opinions in their dozens, it goes against all my better judgment to do so but I have to agree with them. We’ve already made clear that I love the Rock, not like that I’m purely straight, but the man inspired me when I was a teenager and continues to do so as an adult. When you know the Rock’s story, what he went through just to make it big in wrestling then you can have a new appreciation for the Rock, more so for Dwayne Johnson. On his way to the squared circle, when he just a football player, the Rock had nothing. No money, nowhere to live. The man had to literally sleep in his car every night and as stated in his fantastic autobiography, on dirty, pissy mattresses that he sometimes got from tramps.
If that kind of story doesn’t get make you appreciate the Rock then I don’t know what will. I can understand the younger generation of WWE fans, those who have only been with the company for two or three years deciding to jeer the Rock, but us, the more hardened professionals who sit and scrutinize every match, every event, every show, every move and every decision, come on. The Rock deserves respect even if you don’t like him. I know that many believe the Rock sold out to Hollywood in 2002 but you know what, I’d have done the same and if you’re an honest person, then so would you. Not only was there nothing left for the Rock in WWE in 2002 but he had done everything he could. If you’d have been making maybe two million dollars a year in WWE or offered six million per film by Hollywood, which one would you have chosen as you were laughing to the bank? I thought so. The last little detail I will hit upon when talking about the Rock and the past, is that people are very quick to judge the Rock as a ‘sell out’ or whatever you prefer, but they don’t look at the bigger picture and what he did for the business before he left.
At SummerSlam 2002, before he left, the Rock did more to make Brock Lesnar look like a main event star than any of Lesnar’s previous opponents. It was vital that Lesnar look unbeatable in that ring for his main event run and aura to continue when the Rock had gone and damn it the Rock did so much to get Lesnar over. Don’t believe me? Go back and watch the match. What the Rock’s selling, his expertly timed moves and comebacks. Without the Rock, I doubt Brock Lesnar would have been the main event success he was.
Whilst it looks like the Rock and John Cena will collide against at Wrestlemania 29, where I’m afraid John Cena will take the WWE Championship from the Rock, Elimination Chamber could be the beginning of a new era in WWE. Not in front of the camera, that would take months worth of planning and preparation the likes that Vince McMahon no longer favours. However, if WWE were to once again switch champions then it could be seen as a major step forward in the company, just when everything looked predictable for ‘Mania. Your Wrestling God has come up with another alternative for the ending of the match, which if WWE implemented it at Elimination Chamber may save the buy rates falling for another Rock vs Cena match. Before anyone says that they won’t fall must first consider Wrestlemania 28, where WWE billed the Rock vs Cena as ‘Once in a Lifetime’. If you don’t think wrestling fans can be fickle and feel cheated that WWE would lie when they planned all along to book a rematch then think again.
The Rock and C.M Punk to be dual champions as we head into Wrestlemania. Yes, it’s been done before and to great effect, but never going into such a huge event. If the Rock and C.M Punk were to pin each other at Elimination Chamber, WWE could book that triple threat match which has been thrown around. Instead of pinning the Rock, John Cena could pin C.M Punk to win the WWE Championship and everyone would be marginally happy. I do believe that a Rock vs Punk vs Cena match would have more legs than another Rock vs Cena match. The first was limited and the second I can’t imagine being any better.
As for the Rock, since his WWE Championship victory at Royal Rumble he’s been suspicious by his absence. We know he has movies to film and promote but this is yet another reason why WWE should have kept the gold around Punk’s waist. The WWE Universe wants to see the champion every week on Raw and that’s no a commitment the Rock can give WWE at the moment. With another Fast and Furious movie in the works and the Hercules movie going into production in 2013, the Rock isn’t in a position to represent the company as fully as the WWE Champion needs to be. It’s not the Rock’s fault. WWE should have foreseen this problem and made a different call at Royal Rumble.
The build up for the rematch has been cooler than that of their Royal Rumble encounter when it should have been hotter and harder. This is the rematch to one of the hottest feuds this year, WWE should be making more of it even if they had to pre-record segments with Punk and Rock for when the Rock wasn’t available. On the evidence of very little build up for this match, at the time of writing this of course, I can’t imagine that Punk vs Rock number two will draw a bigger number than Royal Rumble and as WWE haven’t made any attempt to make it the next must see pay per event, neither does it deserve to.
C.M Punk has a right to be annoyed with WWE. After all he gave them from November 20th 2011 to january 27th 2013, Punk has recieved very little public acknowledgment for carrying the company through a rough patch in 2012. No one from the WWE office has come forth and thanked or praised Punk for his selfless sacrifice even though without him the headline scene around Titan Towers would have been abysmal. Punk sacrificed his personal life to keep WWE on top, even going as far as to take on board an injury and still keep fighting. Yet no thanks came forth.
I believe that the writing was on the wall for Punk when his feud with Cena and Ryback ended and the reigning WWE champion, who had vanquished all and sunder whilst carrying the gold wasn’t allowed to pin either man cleanly in the middle of the ring. The warning bells should have began to ring then for both us and Punk. If WWE weren’t going to allow Punk to pin Cena or Ryback clean then what were the chances they were going to allow him to pin the Rock, one of the men WWE are relying on to bring a massive Wrestlemania 29 buy rate, cleanly?
Not for one moment do I believe that WWE will allow Punk to defeat Rock at Elimination Chamber which means C.M Punk is on a different Road to Wrestlemania. One that may lead to the Undertaker, one that may lead elsewhere. Whilst the Rock is the WWE Champion C.M Punk won’t get a look in at the top and he’s probably best off dropping down the card a few places whilst Rock and Cena battle it out at the top. Punk’s only purpose at the top of the card whilst the Rock is around, is to be overshadowed and used as a stepping stone to get certain people to Wrestlemania 29. Punk is so much better than that.
Whilst it’s almost written that Punk won’t walk out Elimination Chamber with the WWE Championship, I don’t doubt that the match will once again be brilliantly put together and executed as it was at Royal Rumble. He may have been gone from WWE for a long time but the Rock hasn’t lost any of his sparkle and both Rock and Punk know how to perform on the big shows and how to put on a show.
Winners Prediction: The Rock
World Heavyweight Championship Match
(c) Alberto Del Rio vs Big Show
When the Royal Rumble had drawn to its conclusion, then I didn’t think that WWE would or even could book another Alberto Del Rio vs Big Show match for the blue brand gold. Not only is it a bad business decision, even though the matches between the two have been more than respectable, but this match could have been used to highlight a new and upcoming headliner as we rage towards Wrestlemania 29. WWE didn’t have to book another feud out of the blue for Del Rio to immerse himself in, but had WWE held a battle royal on Smackdown, not won by Big Show and instead a lower card talent, then a one off match which gave a so called young gun a shot at the gold would have held whoever the chosen one was, in good stead for ‘Mania.
WWE could have used this stage to elevate someone like Wade Barrett or Kofi Kingston without any risk involved. I can understand WWE being cagy with pushing talent they’re not sure fans will get behind, on major pay per view events, but on small, ‘B’ level pay per views it’s almost unforgivable, especially when Wrestlemania 29 is shaping up to be almost identical to Wrestlemania 28. One chance to profit the company in the long term would have been met with applause from the audience and also would have been a sign that WWE do intend to do something with their lower card talent and not just allow them to languish in the doldrums they currently occupy.
As it is though we have a rematch from the Royal Rumble and whilst it’s not totally bad news, seeing as Big Show seems to be born again in the ring, it’s still not an encounter I look forward to sitting through again. If we browse WWE’s supposed plans for Wrestlemania 29 then there’s just nothing I can see happening in this one that will set the stage for any kind of encounter at ‘Mania. Sensibly, this has to be Big Show’s final match in the top spot. He’s been there since October and now it’s time to step aside and allow someone else to try their hand. The only sensible decision I can see is to have Ricardo Rodriguez turn heel on Del Rio and cost him the match via disqualification, that way he doesn’t lose the Championship and Rodriguez can either side with Big Show or Del Rio’s Wrestlemania opponent.
As stated Big Show has been on fire in WWE lately and should his form continue then WWE could cash in on that recent run of form and get Big Show to put someone who needs the spotlight over at Wrestlemania. An inevitable loss at Elimination Chamber will be the trigger Big Show needs to go on the warpath and either challenge Ryback or someone lower on the roster in April. The worry would be Big Show’s selfish nature in the ring with someone not as highly placed as he is. Anyone scratching their heads at what I’m talking about only need to go back a year and see how both Big Show and WWE treated then WWE Intercontinental Champion, Cody Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes was the up and comer last year after WWE’s shocking and deplorable treatment of the youngest Rhodes after Legacy split. His reign with the I.C gold was taking off and we could believe in him as a singles star. And then it happened. WWE seemingly closed their eyes and stuck a pin in their roster and came up with Big Show as Rhodes’ Wrestlemania opponent. The result was horrific to see. Big Show treated Rhodes like he wasn’t there and worse still Cody was allowed minimal to no offense against the giant. Big Show’s Intercontinental Championship victory over Rhodes was only done to pad Show’s Championship CV. Their rematch three weeks later at Extreme Rules was plain dumb. After that feud, Cody Rhodes was ruined.
Before WWE pick and opponent for Show at Wrestlemania 29 they need to think long and hard. It’s no coincidence that Big Show’s best performances in the last few months have been against opponents who could all carry him should they have needed to. The question remains, will Big Show be half as good when or if he’s the one who has to do the carrying? The last thing WWE need to take into account is Big Show’s mood. If he’s given an opponent he doesn’t feel like or has an objection putting over, then it could do the third party more damage than good.
Now we can concentrate on Elimination Chamber. The feud and resultant storyline leading up to this match has been, faults aside, quite entertaining. Well, as entertaining as you can get when every writer has their minds focused on Wrestlemania and anything will do up until then. Big Show has played his part of the destructive monster well and is somewhat believable in the role and his secondary role of threat to the World Heavyweight Championship. If we didn’t know his time in the spotlight was done, for now at least, then it wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to see Big Show walking away from this one with the gold over his shoulder. Of course, he won’t.
It’s the World Heavyweight Champion that I would like to concentrate on at this present moment. Alberto Del Rio, after his sudden rise to the top of the mountain has been watchable in the role as champion. Even though one gets the impression that it’s just a caretaker position. The fact is that the time draws near for Dolph Ziggler to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and if Del Rio’s allotted opponent doesn’t dethrone the fraudulent Mexican millionaire at Wrestlemania then Dolph Ziggler surely will.
Putting that aside for the moment, Alberto Del Rio has been an enigma as Champion since his victory in January. Billed in December as a face, and indeed winning the World Heavyweight Championship in that character, WWE seem to have allowed Del Rio to slip back into his dastardly heel role. His actions over the last few weeks certainly haven’t been that of a face. His attacks on Big Show should have been handled carefully to make Del Rio look like the victim in the angles. What we’ve seen has cast Del Rio more as the perpetrator. This may all be a clever ruse by WWE to blame Rodriguez for Del Rio’s behaviour and to have the surely inevitable spilt occur. If it isn’t then it tells us that WWE either don’t know or don’t care where Del Rio is going because he won’t have the gold around his waist when the final lights are turned off at Wrestlemania.
It’s booking decision like this that have made WWE unbelievable and confusing over the last few years. WWE need to decide which side of the fence to pitch Del Rio and soon. A heel vs heel match at ‘Mania won’t draw a huge crowd and neither will a face vs face match. It has worked in the past but Del Rio doesn’t have the kind of drawing power. Maybe he would have had, but thanks to the shoddy treatment, he severely lacks what WWE needed him to contain. Alberto Del Rio has done everything he can do s a heel in WWE which was the reason WWE switched him in the first place. I cannot think of any reasoning as to why WWE would want him to portray one again, let alone so soon after the last one.
The Big Show is a hurdle that Del Rio only has to overcome once more until he books his spot against the winner of the Elimination Chamber Match elsewhere on the card. When all is said and done, I believe Del Rio will leave Elimination Chamber still World Heavyweight Champion and defend the gold at Wrestlemania 29. None of us have any reason to doubt that the match will be first class, Big Show has every reason to put in more effort here than he has before if he wishes to take an important spot in April and Del Rio is a talented man regardless of his opponent. What worries me is aftermath of the encounter. Can Alberto Del Rio really grasp how to wrestle as a face? If not then WWE may see him slide back into the hole he was in before 2013 came around.
Winners Prediction: Alberto Del Rio
Six Man Tag Team Match
The Shield vs John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus
On the plus side, at least this isn’t another John Cena singles match in which he demolishes a promising talent and send them into freefall to the bottom of the card. On the downside John Cena now has three sparkling career to ruin instead of just one. That’s where WWE have hit a snag with this six man tag team match. If you have one or three career to get over big time then the last person you want to give them to is John Cena. This is routine stuff which somehow WWE have failed to grasp.
John Cena has put Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler and numerous other careers back years by just stepping into the ring with them. Only a handful of wrestlers have come out of a feud with John Cena unscathed. He’s literally Midas in reverse and even though he has Sheamus and Ryback to back him up, I truly fear for the Shield’s future when this match is over.
At TLC, Ryback, Team Hell No and the Shield did so much to put Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns over. There was nothing more any of the six could have done to make Paul Heyman’s new faction shine like solid gold. All three former NXT stars looked like future main event players in the way Randy Orton and Batista did when they joined Evolution. After TLC, the Shield managed to stay in the public eye with attacks on Sheamus, Ryback and Cena which is what brought us to this match at Elimination Chamber. WWE would have been better served making this the second Elimination Chamber Match, thus adding a twist to an old favourite. Just imagine how big the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber Match would have been, especially with the chance that the Shield could come out victorious.
WWE have once again given themselves a perfect get out of jail free card with their Wrestlemania 29 main event. Yes, I’m talking about the Rock vs Cena 2. If this match was booked correctly then WWE could spin the story that C.M Punk had the Shield purposely injure John Cena in this match – even more opportunity had this been an Elimination Chamber Match – and put him on the shelf for three or four months so the ‘Straight Edge Saviour’ could worm his way into the WWE Championship Match at Wrestlemania 29.
Just think what WWE could with three or four months of Cena free programming. They would be forced to push new faces into Cena’s spot and stars would be born. Yes, WWE would lose money because John Cena isn’t featured on television and pay per view but it’s a small price to pay for the longevity of your headline scene. A John Cena storyline absence would also be great practice for any real life forced absences from the ring. I really don’t think WWE know or have planned what they’d do if John Cena was to botch a move and break his leg or something more serious which required him to sit out months of action.
Sadly, I doubt that is going to happen. Vince cares more about his bank balance than the future of his company and as long as John Cena can step into that ring and wave that hand that I desperately want to break, then he’ll continue to appear night after night, week after week. This means that the John Cena vs Rock match for the WWE Championship will take place, unless WWE see the light and John Cena will be Champion again at Wrestlemania 29. The fallout from Wrestlemania 29 would and possibly will be a series of predictable main events in which John Cena retains his Championship, worse still, not working towards an overall story like C.M Punk was.
According to reports, Sheamus is on a collision course with a heel Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 29, which means this match is a sheer time filler for ‘the Great White’ whilst WWE turn Randy Orton heel. After his World Heavyweight Championship defeat at Hell in a Cell and resultant rematches which all ended unsuccessfully for the first Irish born World Heavyweight Champion, Sheamus was left partially stranded in WWE’s minefield. There was no story for him to engage in and the Royal Rumble match was only a mere distraction whilst WWE furthered Orton’s turn.
When the Shield attacked Sheamus for the first time it was a sure sign that WWE had run dry of ideas to ply Sheamus with until the run in to Wrestlemania 29. This six man tag team match may not be the worst idea, but for the man who is pencilled in for bigger things in 2013, it must be a letdown. Sheamus is one of the sufferers of ‘Cena Syndrome’ and must have wished that he would never have to step into the same ring as the leader of the ‘Cenation’ again. Imagine his disappointed pale face, when WWE told him their plans for him at Extreme Rules. In October or November of this year, when Sheamus is riding high in WWE again, most likely with either the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship around his waist again, I’m pretty sure he’ll look back on January and February 2013 and wish to forget them completely.
‘Feed Me More’ has been diminishing as a chant in WWE since the turn of the year and at least with the people I’ve been talking to, should be replaced with ‘Feed Me Slightly Less Than I’m Getting Now!’ Ryback has been one constant bore in WWE since Vince decided that the most sensible thing to do with the former Skip Sheffield would be to rush him so fast into the main event spot that he couldn’t possibly keep up. Ryback actually showed promise as part of the Nexus until his injury. When WWE hung the Ryback gimmick around his neck upon his return it must have been the light at the end of the tunnel.
Going from NXT to a high level spot in Nexus, to an injury which put him out of action for months and then suddenly cast into the spotlight as a singles star is more than any up and coming wrestler could have asked for. However the warning bells began to ring in Ryback’s first match when WWE pitted him against ‘Local Athletes’. It was the pits. For Ryback to succeed, regardless of how well he can handle himself and others in the ring, WWE needed to throw him in at the deep end with a real feud. Not smashing jobbers and moving on.
Aside from his great performance at TLC which he deserves a nod for, Ryback has left no impression in WWE. The aforementioned ‘Feed Me More’ chants have only taken off because WWE shoved them so far down our throats it was either chant them along with him or have another two months of endless promotion for the man. I guess sometimes surrender is the easiest and least painful of options. We have to give WWE and Vince McMahon credit for persisting in the character when it’s obvious we couldn’t give a tinkers toss about him. After all, the approach worked to a degree with John Cena, Vince’s reasoning is that there’s no reason it shouldn’t work with Ryback. Of course there is, when Ryback doesn’t have one tenth of the fan support or charisma as John Cena has or had in the past. Say what you like about Cena, but at the very beginning, the man had charisma. When he was hot, he was smoking.
It’s not clear right now where WWE are going to take Ryback or how long their patience with him will last. Vince has become famous for losing interest in wrestlers with whom he once tipped for greatness. When someone isn’t connecting with the fans as Ryback should be, then it’s always going to end badly. For now though, Ryback is a mainstay in WWE and should the Big Show be chosen as his opponent WWE are hoping that hitting the mammoth Show with Shell Socked will both make Ryback more popular and kick start a Goldberg like following and run. News flash: it won’t.
WWE were too quick in ending Ryback’s undefeated run and therefore the little interest there was in the guy, petered out far too fast. Ryback may look like he’s one of the favourites with the higher archy at the moment, in reality, it isn’t too hard to imagine this is Ryback’s last shot at stardom before WWE lose interest in him. You may think otherwise but there are other wrestlers in the WWE machine who deserve and would make better use of the spot that Ryback has been all but handed to him.
The Shield may just be WWE’s biggest success story since John Cena. Before this match was announced, WWE had tried and failed to push and make a number of stars that they should have handled correctly, yet somehow allowed to slip through the net. Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins are by far a credit to WWE’s star making system and long may it continue. Fingers crossed and with the wind blowing in the right direction, the shield may be the beginning of a brand new WWE star making system, one which actually plucks the very best from WWE’s developmental systems and gives them a fair shot at stardom just as it did with the likes of Randy Orton, John Cena and Brock Lesnar.
Unfortunately this is a match that the Shield may just have to whether and make the best of. I can’t see WWE allowing its three brightest prospects to go over John Cena, Ryback or Sheamus so close to all three’s Wrestlemania 29 push. The best outcome of this match would be to keep John Cena as far away from the trio as possible or have them take Cena out before the match and make it a three on two. I really don’t know if the WWE Universe can believe in the Shield, should John Cena destroy their image by no-selling their moves. Should Cena do this and WWE fail to reprimand him for it then it’s a clear message that WWE don’t care as much about the future generation as they do about John Cena. To send the message to its audience that one man is more important than an entire future would be bad for business.
With Paul Heyman behind them, maybe the Shield can do what Randy Orton, Triple H, C.M Punk and Shawn Michaels did before them and avoid the pitfalls of Cena and come out smelling of roses. Heyman really is that good at selling talent and it may be a good idea for WWE to put the Shield in Heyman’s hands. It couldn’t be any worse than allowing the WWE creative team to run out of ideas for them and demote the team to a lower card spot. We already know that Paul Heyman is a genius from his days in ECW. WWE really do have nothing to lose here.
Elimination Chamber could, for all tense and purposes could be a disaster for the Shield and WWE. If Cena is allowed free reign over the former NXT rookies then we can kiss their chances of a further push goodbye with all the credibility they’ve worked so hard to build up since their debut at Survivor Series. On the flip side, the Shield could run riot over Cena and show the world that the WWE creative system is beginning to win out after all. Either way, so close to Wrestlemania 29 and John Cena’s proposed WWE Championship Match with the Rock, I can’t for the life of me see the Shield coming out of this match with the victory.
Winners Prediction: John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus
Elimination Chamber Match
World Heavyweight Championship
Number One Contenders Match
Jack Swagger vs Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan vs Mark Henry vs Kane vs Chris Jericho
The only Elimination Chamber Match on the card looks to be a very promising affair, even if the promised prize isn’t to be taken too seriously. On the line, of course is the number one contender ship for the World Heavyweight Championship, supposedly at Wrestlemania 29, which strips all of the suspense away from who John Cena will choose as his opponent on the grand stage. However, for the competitors in the match, each will know that thanks to Dolph Ziggler’s treatment since his Money in the Bank victory, things can go south, very quickly.
Jack Swagger has been gone from WWE for a very long time. That isn’t such a bad thing because Swagger’s treatment was just unforgivable. WWE buried this guy so far that there looked no way out for him. In fact I remember recommending that Swagger ask WWE for his release and try his luck elsewhere with a view of returning to WWE in a few years time seeking better fortunes. That didn’t happen, what did though was WWE allowed Jack Swagger some time away from the ring in order for the creative department to think up something better for him. And this is what they came up with.
It is a marked improvement on what WWE was doing with him before but I can’t help thinking it’s too soon and came out of the blue. After his burial in 2012, WWE can’t just expect us to buy the fact that he’s in the World Heavyweight Championship picture. It’s going to take a few high profile victories over people like Randy Orton and Chris Jericho in singles competition to make us believe that WWE are really behind Jack Swagger and his inclusion in the World Heavyweight Championship picture. A good showing here though and a few high profile eliminations will hold Swagger in good fortune for the rest of 2013.
I can’t see Jack Swagger winning this match and neither can see what possible inclusion he’d have at Wrestlemania 29. For the sake of his future and to avoid another huge burial though, it’s vital that WWE give him a part to play and not one that involved losing to Brodus Clay on the pre-show, in ten seconds. You would have thought that by now, with the Shield leading the way WWE could have found the guts to push Swagger back in the main event spot. Maybe though, I’m jumping the gun on this one, it wouldn’t be the first time. Perhaps Elimination Chamber 2013 is the beginning of a new era for Jack Swagger and maybe, just maybe, he will go on to Wrestlemania 29 to challenge Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. Judging on past events, I wouldn’t put any money on it.
Randy Orton is my logical choice to win this match, but one which is floored by the rumours that he will soon turn heel and face Sheamus at Wrestlemania 29. Plans change just like people do, of course, but WWE are pretty set and rightly so on returning Orton to where he belongs at the top. A feud against Sheamus would go someway to doing that but a direct entry into the World Heavyweight Championship Match at Wrestlemania 29 would cut all corners and get the job done in one foul swoop. The only problem with Orton winning this match would be yet another Randy Orton vs Alberto Del Rio match. Do we really want to see another one and at Wrestlemania?
The world waits with baited breath for the Orton heel turn. It’s been too long since we’ve seen a scathing Randy Orton berate all in his path. It was the best thing about WWE in 2009 and as a heel Randy Orton can help younger talent much more than he can as a face. A young face victory over a heel Randy Orton would be huge for the wrestler in question. The big question is, when is it going to happen? WWE have been promising us the turn since the beginning of January and have teased and prodded at it. The turn will surely come before the big one in April, which means Elimination Chamber could be the night when the Viper finally snaps.
WWE need to capitalise on Orton’s temper and frustration now, the fact that Orton didn’t win the Royal Rumble and hasn’t been champion in over a year are the perfect catalysts for the turn to happen should the former ‘Legend Killer’ not be the chosen one to walk out of Elimination Chamber with a spot booked at Wrestlemania 29. The perfect turn of course would be against Sheamus, if that is the path WWE are going down. Talk of a new faction has been rife and another led by Orton which included the Shield would be huge for all involved, as long as WWE treated it better than it did Legacy. It may be a little out of left field as the Americans love to say but here is what I’m going out on a limb to say will happen at Elimination Chamber.
Randy Orton will lose the Elimination Chamber Match to much frustration, RKO Daniel Bryan for which he will receive boos from the audience. Backstage WWE will show an interaction between Orton and Sheamus where Sheamus taunts Orton for not winning the match and going to Wrestlemania 29. During the Six Man Tag Team match, Sheamus will have the match won, when Orton will sprint to the ring and RKO Sheamus, costing Cena, Sheamus ands Ryback the victory. The next night on Raw Orton will reveal himself as the mastermind behind bringing the Shield into WWE and cement himself as their leader. That is the perfect way for WWE to turn Orton and set up a match between him and ‘The Celtic Warrior’ at Wrestlemania 29.
WWE may go in a completely different direction with Orton and turn him another way. Above is just one suggestion should anyone backstage in WWE be stuck for an answer. Either way, Randy Orton is the prime choice to win the Elimination Chamber match.
Team Hell No are a surprise, yet needed inclusion here. If not to pad out the match, then almost definitely to pad out their run as WWE Tag Team Champions. In reality, neither man, with the doubles gold around their waist has a chance at winning this match, even though Daniel Bryan would be the perfect challenger for Alberto Del Rio. Had WWE placed both men in yet another Tag Team Championship defence against Team Rhodes Scholars, it would have diminished what surely has to be their final encounter with Cody and Sandow at Wrestlemania 29. Speaking of plans for Team Hell No on the grand stage, I firmly believe that one of the reasons Rey Mysterio was taken out of this match was because WWE plan to book a triple threat WWE Tag Team Championship match at Wrestlemania 29, between Team Hell No, Team Rhodes Scholars and Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara.
They say that all good things must come to an end and it is true of Team Hell No’s Tag Team Championship reign. Kane and Daniel Bryan have tried so hard to make the tag team division better than it was, but sadly it just hasn’t worked thanks to WWE’s sheer bloody mindedness about its tag teams. As it is, the time draws near for Kane and Bryan to hand the gold over and wish it luck as their pair are needed elsewhere higher up the card. The depleted main event needs Bryan and to a lesser extent, Kane. I never thought I’d be saying that. After the Wrestlemania period WWE usually goes into a slump with buy rates and interest declines in the WWE product if there’s nothing new to offer the fans. It’s been too long since Daniel Bryan was in the main event and a year now since he had Heavyweight gold around his waist. There would, I’m sure, be an surge in interest if WWE were to split Team Hell No after Wrestlemania 29 and then reinsert Bryan in the headline scene again. Maybe he’d be the perfect foil for a heel Randy Orton.
Kane is a different beast altogether. After his dire run against John Cena at the beginning of 2012 and then his drab Wrestlemania 28 match with Randy Orton, it was perhaps the best idea WWE had all year, putting Kane with Bryan. Whilst Bryan took care of the in ring duties, it was Kane who held the tandem together in backstage skits. The man has perfect comedy timing. Now though, as a singles competitor, Kane is very limited with what he can do and who he can do it with. I’ll elaborate more on this in the Elimination Chamber review which will of course follow the day after the pay per view.
Like Jack Swagger and Chris Jericho, Mark Henry has been away from WWE for some time. Only his absence was caused by injury and not a need to get away from the in ring lifestyle. Suffering a nasty injury in 2012, Mark Henry has been sidelined ever since. Although, the list of people who actually missed him or noticed he was gone won’t need more than a couple of lines to fill out. The problem with Mark Henry is that he’s big and powerful. That is where his attributes end. His power and size make him, at least in Vince McMahon’s eyes, the perfect choice to place in the main event. We know Vince has had an unnatural obsession with bigger men for too long and the thought of Mark Henry headlining Wrestlemania 29 sends shivers down the spine.
Henry’s wrestling attributes are few and far between. He relies solely on everyone else around him to make him look like a monster and if he’s paired with someone who doesn’t yet have that capability then Henry is show up for what he is. An overpaid, overweight, blob. And yes, before you ask, that is the nicest thing I can think of to say about him. The truth is, that Mark Henry has been given more than enough chances to make a splash in WWE and has failed to do so with every single one of them. There are guys languishing on Superstars and NXT that would kill to get the spot or even half the chances Henry has had and who could make more of them.
Mark Henry has been a WWE superstar since 1996, seventeen years and not once has he ever looked like a main event star. Almost everyone he’s stepped into the ring with over that time has failed miserably to make Henry look good. Only Randy Orton at Night of Champions 2011 managed to make Henry sparkle. When Henry first stepped foot in WWE he was measurably slimmer and a better worker, if not miraculous. He could even manage to strap a Championship belt around his waist. Now though, Mark Henry is just a piece of furniture than needs throwing out and replacing with a brand new piece. I can’t imagine Mark Henry will prevail and go on to Wrestlemania 29 to challenge Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship, but then again this is WWE. And when Vince is in the mood, anything could happen.
I wonder if Chris Jericho has run out of ideas on how to repackage himself. If so then will someone please help him out? He’s a forty year old plus man who dresses in tight leather trousers and is trying to look like he’s still 20. The hair cut and jacket have to go as do the hideous bottoms he continues to squeeze himself into. It worked as a revamp in 2007 when he came back to supposedly save us all from Randy Orton’s WWE Championship reign but now, in 2013, he looks hideously out of place and is trying too hard to push the rock star image. The only saving grace is that Jericho hasn’t lost any of his prowess in the ring. That at least, we can be thankful for.
It will come as no surprise to you that Chris Jericho’s time in the main event is as good as over. Clocking in at over forty years old, Jericho doesn’t have the main event aura that he once exuded on a weekly basis, in fact his main event drawing power ran out shortly after it began. Chris Jericho is one of those rare wrestlers who people don’t want to see in the main event but anywhere else on the card and they’re hot for him, if you know what I mean? Now, in 2013, Chris Jericho has fallen into the category all great wrestlers of a certain age should occupy. That of talent enhancer. With his skills and talent Chris Jericho can do more for the lower card guys who are teetering on the verge of breaking the glass ceiling than he can fighting for the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship. This has been proven on numerous occasions.
Now that is out in the open, I’m afraid I have to counter everything I’ve just said. Because looking at the competitors in this match, Chris Jericho has to be the second biggest favourite to win it. Team Hell No still have the WWE Tag Team Championships around their waist which means they have other business to see to before they can think about their split and return to the main event. Mark Henry would put more people off than bring more people in as number one contender. Jack Swagger just isn’t ready for a World Heavyweight Championship Match at Wrestlemania 29 yet and it’s going to be a few more months if not years before he is. Randy Orton and Chris Jericho are the only feasible choices to win this match.
I’m pretty sure that Jericho won’t be the one to prevail and instead of going to the grand stage to challenge Alberto Del Rip for the World Heavyweight Championship, he’ll be pitted against Dolph Ziggler in a rematch from SummerSlam 2012. If this is Jericho’s destiny then it’s the perfect opportunity for him to repent his sins in not putting Ziggler over SummerSlam and do so where it really matters. A victory for Ziggler, over Jericho, at Wrestlemania would restore Ziggler as a serious threat to Del Rio and his gold.
And there we have it. This year’s only Elimination Chamber match has, in reality, only two possible winners. Whilst Chris Jericho is still rising his return at Royal Rumble, one has to think that it’s not enough to up his game in the main event and the spot will go to Randy Orton who will then turn heel on Sheamus later or earlier in the card. Either way, this Elimination Chamber Match is almost guaranteed to top last year’s disappointing effort from the blue brand and we can all take solace in that.
Winners Prediction: Randy Orton
WWE United states Championship Match
(c) Antonio Cesaro vs The Miz
Miz’s fall from grace in recent months has been astonishing to watch. And I don’t meant that in a good way. The man that two years ago was defending his WWE Championship against Jerry Lawler at this very event and then went on to defeat John Cena in the main event of Wrestlemania 27, albeit with the intervention of the Rock, now finds himself challenging for the least important males singles Championship in the whole company.
In recent months, Miz has been built up only to have the rug pulled out from under him numerous times by WWE creative and the higher powers. His return to WWE, from filming ‘The Marine 3: Homefront’, at Money in the Bank 2012 was meant to herald a new beginning for Miz. He didn’t win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match but he did put in one of the best efforts out all the competitors and his future looked a lot brighter than before he vacated the company to go in front of the cameras. When Miz captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship for Christian on Raw's 1,000th episode, once again the future for the 'Awesome One' looked rosey. To the outside world, WWE had decided to put their former second biggest Championship around his waist and for any wrestler who used to hold the I.C title, it was a lead in to better things. In 2012 and indeed 2013, it’s just a means to do something with the wrestler and the gold.
Undeniably, it was a blow for the Miz, losing the WWE Intercontinental Championship only months after he’d won it and on a televised show which hardly anyone watches. Had WWE been quicker they could have had the Championship change hands at Hell in a Cell 2012 and given the whole Kofi Kingston vs the Miz feud a more important feel. Because they wanted a huge headline for their new show, The Main Event was the chosen destination for the Championship change. Both Miz and Kingston lost out here. The feud which followed saw the Miz lose to Kingston at least four times straight on television, not to mention the countless house show losses. The losses would once again hamper the Miz’s career. However it wasn’t all bad; or at least it seemed that way. After the Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship, WWE came out and issued a statement that Miz’s loss to Kingston was to bring better fortunes for the Miz, as the company were set on pushing him back to the top of the card. News greeted with applause from everyone except John Cena fans.
To everyone’s dismay, the Miz’s push began with the aforementioned losses to Kingston, followed by a very swift face turn and a place on Team Foley at Survivor Series. For a man who was meant to be heading for better things, the Miz looked like someone who was going nowhere. Survivor Series should have been the beginning of the Miz. He didn’t have to be the sole survivor or even the winner of the match. All WWE had to allow the Miz to do was to be the last man left on Team Foley, after Randy Orton was eliminated. This course of action, to have the Miz and not Orton as the last man on the face team to oppose three opponents would have made the Miz. The Miz against three heels would have gotten the crowd behind the man who was meant to be headed back to the top. Had Miz eliminated the third man and then put up a gallant fight against Ziggler and Del Rio, refusing to submit to Del Rio’s cross arm breaker and kicking out of the Zig-Zag, to eliminate Del Rio and then be felled by an RKO as Orton turned heel on his partner and cost him the match would have set the Miz up perfectly.
As we all know, that didn’t happen. I never said it was a perfect plan as it would have stolen all of Ziggler’s heat and he wouldn’t have been in the position he is now. When you pit a man who is about to turn face against a heel team then sacrifices have to be made, otherwise the whole course of action is wasted. On this occasion the Miz was the sacrifice. His Survivor Series turn was uneventful in the most and instead of putting up a gallant fight, the Miz was eliminated by Team Ziggler without an inspiration fight back. Just when the Miz though it couldn’t get any worse, TLC rolled around and instead of being in one of the top tier matches or even a high profile match which would have seen his stock rise, the Miz was teamed with Alberto Del Rio and the Brooklyn Brawler to face 3MB in a match which should have been left off of the card.
Since the turn of the year, things have gradually begun to look up for the Miz. On the Royal Rumble pre-show he challenged Antonio Cesaro for the United States Championship in what was a very good effort and should have been included on the main body of the show. You can bet your boots that it won’t be included on the Royal Rumble 2013 DVD and Blu-ray, which means the only place people can see it is on WWE.Com. That is a great injustice to both men. Now though, Miz has his chance again to dethrone the United States Champion, this time where everyone can see it. Do I believe the Miz will reign supreme at Elimination Chamber? No. His treatment in the last few months has been nothing less than disgusting and to sudden throw a piece of meaningless gold around his waist may do him more harm than good. The Championship change has to take place sooner or later, we know that. Wrestlemania 29 would be the perfect place, although one fears a United States Championship match would be throw onto the pre-show as it was at Wrestlemania 27 when Sheamus defended against Daniel Bryan.
All the Miz needs to do at Elimination Chamber is put in a great effort. That way if Cesaro does the same, both men will have proved that they can hold their own with the other on a bigger stage and may persuade WWE to give them ten minutes at Wrestlemania 29. If WWE ruin this feud by rushing it or not giving it the coverage it deserves then this may very well be the Miz’s final chance to climb back up the card. Time has wearied him and the crowd’s feelings towards him. We’ve seen him buried and pushed with constant irregularity and quite frankly, it’s getting boring.
The WWE United States Champion has all the promise in the world. Cesaro will be huge in WWE, that you can count on. Looking at his current status in the company, I wouldn’t bank on it being any time soon. WWE have done the right thing by introducing Cesaro gradually and not throwing him in at deep end to be destroyed in a month by John Cena and have all his star aura decimated. Starting him out at the bottom ensures that he will have the fans support when he finally does get to the main event, because they will know he has earned it and not been spoon fed it. Now though, I think it’s about time to take ‘Project Cesaro’ on to the next level and that is the Intercontinental Championship.
Since SummerSlam, Cesaro has done everything he can with the U.S Championship, yes, I know that sounds unbelievable seeing as WWE have actually done very little with him or the gold. But, let’s be honest, how many people actually care about the United States Championship after Santino Marella made it a complete laughing stock? Me neither. Cesaro would be much better suited the Intercontinental Championship and there is also a lot more scope for him and WWE to work with. The talent in the I.C division gets a lot more coverage than the lowly U.S Championship talent do and by holding his current Championship, Cesaro has run out of credible challengers.
At least with the Intercontinental Championship, Cesaro will have to fight guys like Alberto Del Rio, when he loses the World Heavyweight Championship and gets demoted yet again and Kofi Kingston with regularity. The idea behind this is to up Cesaro’s game. He’s prove he can make it the lowest level in the company, without dropping into the NXT ranks of course, WWE need to see him prove he can make it higher up the food chain. If Cesaro can make the Intercontinental Championship more of a success than he’s managed to make the United States Championship then there will be no disputing he’ll be ready for a WWE Championship shot later in the year.
Should Cesaro lose the United States Championship to the Miz at Elimination Chamber or Wrestlemania 29, then win the Intercontinental Championship either at Extreme Rules or Over the Limit, he’ll surely be the top candidate to take one of the Money in the Bank briefcases in July. Only Wade Barrett will be in a stronger position. Like I’ve said before, all this is very good in theory but in the end in lies in WWE’s hands. For Cesaro to be a success with or without the Intercontinental Championship, WWE have to really get behind the guy and push him with a vengeance. Great feuds and gripping storylines are the key to Cesaro’s success, without that and WWE’s full backing, he’s going nowhere.
Winners Prediction: Antonio Cesaro
WWE Divas Championship Match
(c) Kaitlyn vs Tamina
Once again, I don’t really have that much to say about this match. WWE have done nothing in two months, since the last Divas pay per view outing, to make the division better. Instead they’ve done what they seem so good at doing and that is papering over the cracks. I would normally place a suggestion here, as to how WWE could make the division better but I’ve got over it so often that I’m bored of saying it and I’m sure you’re bored of hearing it. Instead of going over it all again, you can read everything I have to say about WWE Divas division and how WWE can make it better in the blog titled ‘Women’s Troubles’.
Kaitlyn may be one of the most beautiful divas WWE has to offer and her wrestling skills aren’t as bad as previous Divas Champions, that though doesn’t make her Championship material. Sadly though, she’s the best hope WWE have of keeping the divisions’ head above water. After her piss poor acting at Night of Champions after she was supposedly attacked backstage to her feud with the lovely Eve and the increasingly irritating Layla, Kaitlyn has shown very little in the way of being the next Lita or Trish Stratus. Am I saying that she can’t do it? No. Because with some more dedication and hard work, Kaitlyn could be one of the highlights of WWE’s Divas offering. For that to happen tough, it lies in the hands of WWE once again. And seeing as they haven’t bothered to do anything up to this point to better the division, there’s nothing to make us think that they’ll bother now.
Tamina Snuka is a good choice as challenger to the WWE Divas Championship. She’s built like a wrestler should be built and she doesn’t look like a model which helps the believability. Snuka can actually wrestle as well which is a huge plus. However there has been very little in the way of storyline or feud to build this match up and what there has been didn’t get our attention. WWE can’t keep throwing two women on screen and crossing their fingers, because the approach isn’t working.
Maybe this match will be very good. There’s no reason it shouldn’t be, both Kaitlyn and Tamina are capable of pulling off something the crowd will pop for. It’s not like we’re about to watch two women who don’t know how to turn it on when the time calls for it. Elimination Chamber could be the beginning of the resurgence of the WWE Divas division or it could be just another step to self destruction. I know which one I’ll be putting my money on.
Winners Prediction: Kaitlyn
Pre-Show
Brodus Clay and Tensai vs Team Rhodes Scholars
I know, okay? Is this really the best WWE could think of for Team Rhodes Scholars? The next elect WWE Tag Team Champions? On a pay per view like Elimination Chamber surely it would have been much better for them and WWE’s Wrestlemania run in to have Rhodes and Sandow face Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio again. That way the company could have fashioned a storyline that lead into a triple threat tag team match at Wrestlemania 29. It would at least have looked like WWE had have put some thought into it.
There’s a train of thought running through my and possibly your mind, that Rhodes and Sandow aren’t high up WWE’s list of priorities right now. I get the impression WWE see them as a reliable pair of fall guys who they can send out to soak up the laughs of everyone backstage. Their treatment since January has been despicable. Numerous losses to Team Hell No in tag team and singles competition have all but stripped Team Rhodes Scholars of all their credibility, not to mention what the beat down at the hands of the Rock did to their image. You would have thought WWE could give them a break, considering the state of their tag team division. It’s almost as if WWE want the doubles division to fail.
After the Royal Rumble, WWE should have pushed Team Rhodes Scholars as serious threats to the WWE Tag Team Championships. Instead they have been jobbed out to almost everyone. Worse still, on the Smackdown before Elimination Chamber, Cody Rhodes lost to the Miz which is fine, it’s just that they should have chosen someone else for the Miz to defeat and Damien Sandow was once again flattened by the Rock. WWE should think about changing their team name to Team Punch bags, because that is all they’ve been used for. And now WWE have gone the whole hog and stuck them on the pre-show of the final event before Wrestlemania. Not only have they stuck them on the pre-show, they’ve given them to possible the worst team since the Prime Time Players. I want to use the words ‘Dumb Pricks’ in this sentence to describe my feelings towards the WWE creative team, but somehow, it just doesn’t seem enough.
What can I say about Tensai and Brodus Clay? Tensai should be higher up the WWE food chain. He’s a great wrestler who can flourish if WWE allow him to. Matt Bloom was a huge success in NJPW before he came back to WWE and the company should have looked what he was now capable of in the ring and carried on with him. The fact they lost interest in him 3 weeks after re-hiring him tells you how short Vince McMahon’s patience are in the present.
My thought’s on Brodus Clay have been well documented. I think he’s a fat, talentless, moron who should have been fired by now. Every time I watch his entrance I cringe horrendously, especially if it’s on when I’m with someone who doesn’t know about wrestling. The character and the man are both a bad representation of the business and he should have been fired long ago. His dance is embarrassing and when he does it with his tongue sticking out he looks like Festus’ fatter brother and resembles an absolute retard. That is nicest way I can put it. Just watch him when he dances with his tongue out, he looks simple. It’s infuriating.
Can Tensai and Clay become successful as a tag team? No. Because WWE don’t give a damn about Tensai and putting him with Clay will damage his reputation and image even more. I’m all for being proved wrong and if the two can do that I will of course hold my hands up and admit my failings. With these two though, I’m pretty sure I’m right on this one. I will state now, that if Team Rhodes Scholars lose at Elimination Chamber, then the WWE Tag Team Division deserves everything it gets.
Winners Prediction: Team Rhodes Scholars
Shooting down the card, Elimination Chamber 2013 has the potential to be the beginning of many things for many people. WWE have the perfect opportunity to turn Randy Orton heel, revolutionise their Divas Division – at least a little, set up numerous matches for Wrestlemania 29, kick star the Miz and Antonio Cesaro’s push to the top of the card and maintain their faith in the Shield. Which of these WWE will choose to take on is yet to be seen. If though they don’t take the chance whilst they have it, then they must surely realise that they won’t keep getting these kind of chances.
As much as Elimination Chamber could be the night of the up and coming talent, the WWE Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, Kofi Kingston and more importantly Dolph Ziggler have all been left off of the card. This is a senseless move when all three men needed the exposure badly. We would all have preferred to see Kofi Kingston or Wade Barrett take Mark Henry’s place in the Elimination Chamber Match and WWE could have at least done something with Dolph Ziggler if they’re to have him cash his Money in the Bank briefcase in at Wrestlemania 29, if he doesn’t do so here.
Elimination Chamber is the final stop on the Road to Wrestlemania and could be a clear indication of what we can expect in April. What better place to start afresh?
Onwards and upwards...
