The Elimination Chamber has become the major tentpole event between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. And as long as we dismiss the questionable merits of five or six people (per Elimination Chamber match) getting a title shot in the immediate aftermath of two competitors having to fight their way through 29 other superstars to earn their own title opportunity, it’s typically a very entertaining evening.
This pay-per-view often defines the trajectory of multiple world titles, and on occasion the title even changes hands inside the Chamber, like when Bray Wyatt won in 2017.
Even as it seems unlikely that Drew McIntyre or Roman Reigns could leave Sunday’s show without the WWE championship or Universal championship, respectively, there are plenty of dynamics in play to make the show compelling. That includes the uncertainty surrounding the decisions of both Royal Rumble winners, Edge and Bianca Belair, as well as Money in the Bank briefcase holder The Miz pulling himself out of the WWE championship Elimination Chamber match. It does not include the staggeringly silly pronouncement on Monday Night Raw that Lacey Evans was pregnant with Ric Flair’s child.
This year’s event will take place without fans inside the WWE Thunderdome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Here’s what to know ahead of Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view which begins at 7 p.m. on WWE Network:
Elimination Chamber match for the WWE championship
As has been the case in most recent Elimination Chambers, there’s a high likelihood of multiple WrestleMania clashes coming out of the aftermath of this match. McIntyre, the reigning WWE champion, seems to be on a collision course with longtime friend Sheamus. At the conclusion of Monday night’s six-way gauntlet, Sheamus pinned McIntyre to close out the match and earn the right to enter the Elimination Chamber match last. Even if he doesn’t ultimately win, the tensions building between the two men in recent months make for a natural build.
There’s also the simmering conflict with The Miz, who pulled himself out of the Elimination Chamber match with the seeming ulterior motive of cashing in his Money in the Bank contract at the conclusion of McIntyre’s title defense. Alternatively, The Miz has been on a roll and seems equally likely to opportunistically cash in his title shot as he is to write his ticket to a WrestleMania title match with that briefcase. Whichever of Sheamus and The Miz doesn’t get the WrestleMania opportunity seems a strong candidate to face McIntyre at Fastlane in March.
As for Randy Orton, his ongoing psychological war with Alexa Bliss is drawing us closer and closer to a return for The Fiend Bray Wyatt. Orton was distracted during the aforementioned gauntlet match by Bliss maniacally laughing as her image overtook everyone in the virtual audience inside The Thunderdome. Could The Fiend show up at Elimination Chamber? Sure. Is there a high likelihood that Orton and Wyatt will follow up their devastatingly disappointing WrestleMania 33 match with a repeat at WrestleMania 37 that will wipe away some of those memories? Hopefully.
That leaves the other three participants in the match. Kofi Kingston won his way into The Miz’s vacated spot by defeating The Miz on Raw, and while KofiMania 2 seems unlikely given the current circumstances, elevating Kingston back to a prominent singles role seems smart. Pairing him up with AJ Styles, another of Sunday’s competitors, also seems smart. Two former WWE champions clawing their way back to the top would make for a compelling build and WrestleMania match.
That leaves Jeff Hardy, far and away the most puzzling entry in this match. Rather than giving this spot to someone on the cusp of being a true world title contender, like Keith Lee, Hardy enters this match with very little momentum. Sure, he’s likely to do a few things inside the chamber to take advantage of the structure, but he doesn’t move like he used to and has no realistic chance of winning the match.
Prediction: McIntyre retains, last eliminating Sheamus. The Miz teases a cash-in but doesn’t follow through.
Elimination Chamber match for the right to face Universal champion Roman Reigns later that night
Outside of the puzzling absence of the recently resurgent Shinsuke Nakamura, this No. 1 contender’s match has loads of potential and a lot of great storytelling baked into it. Kevin Owens getting one more shot at a match with Reigns, but having to exhaust himself against five others including Reigns’ proxy Jey Uso just to get there, is brilliant. It’s the outcome that makes the most sense, but let’s explore some other possibilities we could see, from least to most likely contenders.
• Uso has had his chances at Reigns, and is now a fiercely loyal ally. He could certainly play spoiler, but his chances of winning are virtually nil, unless the thought is to make him lay down and give Reigns an embarrassingly easy victory.
• King Corbin hasn’t had a lot going for him of late. In fact, in his lone singles match since WrestleMania, Corbin lost to Dominik Mysterio. But thanks to a win in a tag team qualifying match, he and Sami Zayn qualified to be in this match. Corbin may well have a few big moments, but he seems unlikely to do much more than potentially screw over one of his fellow competitors in this match on his way out.
• Zayn’s long campaign to try to regain the Intercontinental championship takes a detour through this match. Zayn is at his villainous peak right now, and he’s embodying one of the most effective and frustrating traits of a great bad guy — someone who is capable of incredible things inside the ring, but insists on taking shortcuts and being entirely insufferable. Zayn’s chances also seem extraordinarily long in this match.
• Daniel Bryan has talked publicly of his career potentially being on the wind-down in recent months, and seemed to be an interesting dark horse pick to win the Royal Rumble. But after failing to break through in that match, Bryan’s path to WrestleMania seems unlikely to take him to a world title match. He’s a sleeper pick here, if the intent is to stifle Owens by having multiple forces collude to exclude him from another shot at Reigns. But in that possibility, Bryan is a less likely pick than Cesaro.
• Cesaro seems to be the clear No. 2 possibility to win this match. With two clean victories over Bryan and one over Dolph Ziggler this year, plus a submission victory over Ziggler that qualified him and Bryan for this match, Cesaro is trending upwards. His incredible physicality makes him a great match for anyone on the roster, and if Reigns is going to steamroll his way to WrestleMania, why not give Cesaro a showcase to prove he belongs in title contention?
Prediction: Owens beats the odds, loses to Reigns again in the subsequent match, and finally snaps after being screwed over so many times.
Roman Reigns tracking towards a WrestleMania showdown with Edge
The WWE power structure on SmackDown above ostensible authority figure Adam Pearce is nebulous and hard to follow, but whomever is pulling the strings, it’s been benefitting Reigns — he calls the shots, and any minor victory Pierce manages against Reigns is fleeting and comes with consequence.
Pierce and Owens alike have suffered the wrath of the growingly agitated and egomaniacal Universal champion. They have collectively fueled Reigns’ sense of entitlement, and between Reigns, Paul Heyman and the story that is being told, they are hitting every beat perfectly. The wrinkle of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match becoming a No. 1 contender’s match rather than a direct title shot was a smart pivot. It differentiates the match from what’s going on with McIntyre and the WWE championship, and further fuels the narrative of Reigns and Heyman manipulating the system — using some manufactured loophole that fulfills the contract in which Reigns has to defend his title on the show while avoiding the Chamber itself.
The winner will have a pyrrhic victory, and inevitably after surviving the gauntlet inside of the Chamber, Reigns will snuff out their slim hopes in a one-on-one match that follows. Even in this scenario that’s tailor made to benefit them — another signature moment of manipulating the narrative — Reigns and Heyman are already on to complaining about the few elements they can’t control.
Enter Edge, who will challenge for a world title at WrestleMania after winning the Royal Rumble match. Unlike recent years, when there was a clear story for the winner of the Royal Rumble match to steer into and the match was quickly locked in, Edge has left his decision open and waits to see how the dust settles post-Elimination Chamber. That feeds perfectly into the perpetually aggrieved and agitated state Reigns is in despite being constantly catered to.
There’s still an Elimination Chamber match and a title defense to come. And while we’ll have to wait and see how Edge’s decision ultimately plays out in the weeks to come, Reigns certainly seems to be the favorite to be his opponent.
Uncertainty hovers over the rest of the card
What an ANNOUNCEMENT by @LaceyEvansWWE on #WWERaw! ? pic.twitter.com/iCWSS6xCQk
— WWE (@WWE) February 18, 2021
Since 2015, the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view has had anywhere from six to eight matches. But with Evans’ pregnancy announcement on Monday seemingly scuttling her Raw women’s championship match against Asuka, that leaves only four matches on the card — the two Chamber matches, Reigns’ Universal title defense and a triple threat match for the Intercontinental championship featuring Bobby Lashley, Riddle and Lee.
Lee has been on the precipice of a breakthrough moment for a while and could very well break through on Sunday to win his first “main roster” title. The match is sure to have an entertaining dynamic with many displays of brute force and strength.
Beyond that, a few potential additions are possible. There was a tease of Sasha Banks and Belair to challenge for the women’s tag team titles after Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler showed up at SmackDown last Friday. Seth Rollins returned with promises of a fresh start and new perspective, convincing absolutely nobody, and could perhaps return to action.
And with Robert Roode and Ziggler losing their qualifying match for the Elimination Chamber, perhaps the SmackDown titles could be on the line, either against former champions The Street Profits or someone else.
Friday’s final SmackDown before the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view will likely clarify some of these questions, but leaving much of the card beyond the world title matches up to the last minute has become a somewhat worrying trend.
