Elimination Chamber Predictions

The Elimination Chamber: The final stop on the Road to Wrestlemania. It's time to sew up the loose ends and adjust the title pictures before WWE's Superbowl. Historically, champions have roughly a 50% chance of retaining at the Chamber. Considering the match itself features six competitors, the champion actually winning 50% of the time is impressive.

Currently there are four matches on the card for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. The two championship Chamber matches will take up a good portion of time, but we can still expect a couple of unadvertised matches to make their way onto the card. I would not be surprised to see a tag team title defense and/or a quick Sheamus match. Moving onto predictions...




Divas Championship: Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Tamina Snuka


Shortly after the Royal Rumble, WWE began selling the angle that Beth Phoenix was unstoppable and that no diva was truly a challenge to her Divas Championship. This of course made all of the fans assume that her next challenger would be Kharma who had made a surprise return during the Royal Rumble. We guessed wrong. Kharma has not been seen since the Rumble and Beth's challenger is Tamina Snuka; daughter of WWE Hall of Fame member, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.  I think Beth is going to retain once again. The reason? I think a Beth Phoenix vs. Kharma match is in the works for Wrestlemania XXVIII.

Prediction: Beth Phoenix


Ambulance Match: John Cena vs. Kane

Unlike last month's match, there is no way to have a no-contest. The only way to finish an ambulance match is to incapacitate your opponent, load them into the back of an ambulance, and close the door. At the end of this week's RAW, Kane said John Cena had officially embraced the hate after Cena's own friend, Zack Ryder, had turned against him. Personally, I think all he did was "embrace the Eve." If that was truly the culmination of all of Kane's coaxing, then label me unimpressed. But then again, did anyone truly believe Cena would turn heel?

The fact is that it is time for this feud to end. WWE officially begins building the Wrestlemania story lines on next week's RAW. Cena will be in the show's main event against Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Having Kane go over here makes no sense whatsoever. I know I said that about last month's match prior to the no-contest/double count out, but I'm even more sure of myself now. I'd be stunned to see anything but John Cena "rise above hate" and load Kane into an ambulance at the end of this match.

Prediction: John Cena


Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship:


Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Great Khali vs. Santino Marella vs. Big Show

Despite the fact that Randy Orton is seemingly out of this match and that Santino Marella is now in, I'm sticking with my opinion that this is the most interesting match on the entire card. I think it'll be ugly and anything but enjoyable to watch while in progress, but all of the possible outcomes make it very intriguing.

I should just come out and say it. I don't think Santino Marella will seriously be in this match. I've had days to think about it and, in my opinion, something will happen on the night of the event that causes Santino to be taken out of the match and another competitor to enter. Who will it be? I can't say for sure. I don't really have a best guess. My personal candidates are Randy Orton, Sheamus, Mark Henry, Alberto Del Rio, and even Christian. The angle of Santino entering the match was filmed on Tuesday night. That leaves plenty of time for creative to think of a new strategy and give a surprise competitor, like Christian for example, a heads up to create travel arrangements to be at Chamber on Sunday. I will say that I like a heel's odds better to force their way into the match. If Santino is going to be forcibly removed by being injured or something, it's not logical to have a baby face take him out. It makes more sense for a heel. For me, that means either Alberto Del Rio, Mark Henry, or Christian.

There are only two competitors that I truly cannot see winning this match: Khali and Big Show. Khali because, well, he's the Great Khali and shouldn't be in this match let alone win it. Big Show because I do think that the rumored match between he and Shaquille O'Neal will happen at 'Mania. I'd add Santino if I was sure he's going to stay in, but I'm obviously not convinced of that. Either way he's not winning.

That leaves Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett and a potential surprise entrant. I'm not really sold on Rhodes or Barrett winning either, but this entire match is such a clusterf--- that I don't want to rule them out just yet. I give Barrett a better chance than I do Rhodes. Seeing the Barrett Barrage capture the world title would be a delight, but the writing over the weeks since the Rumble has not given the sense that he's getting a Wrestlemania push.

If I'm correct and a surprise entrant does enter, then I can definitely see them winning - regardless of who it is. I can also see Daniel Bryan retaining.

Truth be told, had it not been for Orton's concussion, I would be picking him right now. Maybe he shocks everyone, re-enters the match and still wins. If he's not in the match, this entire thing is a fiasco. There's no star power and even if someone replaces Santino, there will probably be an imbalance with too many heels. Without knowing the final lineup for sure, it's very difficult to make a prediction. If something happens during the show, I'll probably change mine on Twitter. For the moment, I'm taking the safe pick.

Prediction: Daniel Bryan


Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Championship


CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston

Let's get real. I think everyone and their mother knows CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho is going to happen at Wrestlemania. The odds of Ziggler, Truth, Miz or Kofi winning this match are slim to none. I never want to say never, but it just isn't going to happen for them. Therefore, there can only be two realistic winners here: Punk and Jericho.

This prediction shouldn't take long. I'm picking what, in my opinion, is the easiest story line to write. If Jericho defeats Punk here and picks up the WWE Championship, the fallout is incredibly easy to write. Punk, the baby face, then becomes challenger by default in the one month buildup to 'Mania. Historically, it's always been easier to sell baby faces winning the championship from a heel at Wrestlemania. If things go oppositely and Punk retains, I think the story becomes much more boring. They'd have to first figure out a way where Jericho earns no. 1 contender status despite losing at the Chamber. Then the one month or so build up would all be about Jericho being the challenger and the fan favorite, Punk, being the defender. To me, that's much less interesting. I'd rather see the fan favorite be in "chaser mode" in the final month before Wrestlemania.

Prediction: Chris Jericho