WWE Elimination Chamber Preview: Cena defends WWE Title vs. Styles, Corbin, Wyatt, Miz & Ambrose

Here’s the rest of the lineup for Elimination Chamber.

Luke Harper vs. Randy Orton

Orton won the Royal Rumble two weeks earlier, so it makes sense to continue his momentum with a win in this match. Harper was the main reason why John Cena pinned Orton in Smackdown’s main event this week as well.

Harper has become a loner type of character since he has broken free from the Wyatt Family mainly because Orton has become a friend to Bray Wyatt. Is it going to continue with Harper or is he going to swerve us by showing he’s loyal to Wyatt after all? I think in the build to WrestleMania he’ll be loyal to WWE Champion Wyatt, Orton will be a face and it will make things harder on Orton.

They had a fun match a few weeks ago that was given about ten minutes. If they get a bit more time it could be an awesome match hat reminds people how good Harper can be when given a chance.

Prediction: Randy Orton wins

Smackdown Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi

I’m glad that Naomi has been elevated to the point where she is getting a title shot. She’s always had a lot of potential while the announcers put over how athletic she is, which is true. The story going in is that Naomi has pinned Bliss twice in tag matches, so she has momentum. I liked the promo Naomi delivered on Smackdown this past Tuesday because she talked about wanting to carry the title to WrestleMania in her hometown of Orlando. I don’t think there will be a title change here, but that promo made it seem possible. Perhaps Naomi wins the title at WrestleMania in some six-woman title match. I think Bliss cheats to keep her title here.

Prediction: Alexa Bliss wins in cheap fashion

Nikki Bella vs. Natalya

The story goes back to Survivor Series when Nikki was attacked backstage by a mystery attacker. About a month later, it was revealed to be Natalya. Since then, they have teased having a match to settle their issues, but it hasn’t happened. There has been a lot of brawling and verbal shots by both women to make this a very personal feud where Natalya comes off as a woman jealous of Nikki’s success while Nikki wants to stand up for herself.

Since it’s their first major match it could go either way. Having Natalya would keep the feud going strong, but I think it’s more likely that Nikki will win to get her revenge. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a rumor that Nikki may team up with boyfriend John Cena against The Miz and Maryse at WrestleMania. I don’t know if it’s true, but if it happens then it makes sense to give Nikki the victory here.

Prediction: Nikki Bella wins

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Turmoil Match: American Alpha vs. The Usos vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. Breezango vs. The Ascension vs. The Vaudevillains

What’s a turmoil match, you ask? Here’s the explanation from WWE.com: The match begins with two teams. Once one team is eliminated, a new duo enters the match. This continues until one team is left standing tall.

In a match like this, anything can happen. The champions American Alpha have had the titles for over a month, but haven’t had much TV time or a proper feud for the titles. A match like this can be exciting with a bunch of pinfalls leading to an eventual winner. However, the crowd could be dead for a lot of the match since some of these teams are barely visible on television. It was nice to see Viktor of Ascension get a win in a tag match last week, but I don’t think that team will win here. If a team other American Alpha wins here then it might be The Usos because they should have a title run as heel champions. I’m going with American Alpha to retain.

Prediction: American Alpha retains the tag team titles

Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James

The story here is that Mickie James returned to TV last month as “La Luchadora” under a mask to help Bliss beat Lynch in a cage match for the SD Live Women’s Title. James has repeatedly bragged about how she’s a six-time Women’s Champion (five Women’s Titles, one Divas Title, but they don’t say diva anymore so that’s why she’ll just say six-time) and claims that Lynch has done things to disrespect her. They’ve done a good job of making this feel like a personal rivalry (much like Nikki vs. Natalya) and this will be their first match.

I like both women a lot and it should be a really good match with James in the heel role. It’s a tough match to predict because it makes sense to have Lynch win to avenge the losses she had against Bliss. However, James was a part of two tag team losses so far in her return to WWE after seven years away, so I think WWE should give her a big win in this match to prove that she is as good as ever. When they have other matches, Lynch can get her win back.

Prediction: Mickie James wins

Apollo Crews & Kalisto vs. Dolph Ziggler

It’s weird to have a handicap match on a pay-per-view with the heel (Ziggler) as the guy in a 1 on 2 setting. They set it up like that because Ziggler bragged to SD Live GM Daniel Bryan backstage this week that he could beat both guys at the same time.

I think the face duo of Crews and Kalisto should be the victors, but it wouldn’t shock me if there’s a twist. How about a scenario where Crews turns on Kalisto to become an ally of Ziggler, so that way Ziggler has a guy watching his back as he tries to move up the ranks? Crews really hasn’t done much since the brand split. Turning him heel and putting him with Ziggler may not be a bad idea. I’m not sure if it’s going to happen, but I just think there’s potential for a swerve. Another idea is to have somebody else help Ziggler win the match. I’m not sure who that could be, though. I don’t know if I like the swerve ideas enough to go with them, so I’ll pick with the faces to win.

Prediction: Apollo Crews & Kalisto win

In Closing

I like the card and think it will be an above average pay-per-view just like the Royal Rumble was. The WWE roster is loaded with talent. As long as they give their performers time to have quality matches they are going to deliver. I feel like with an awesome main event that will carry the show. There isn’t a match on the card that I think looks that bad. I’m also interested to see how much time the three women’s matches are going to get.

You can watch Smackdown Live’s Elimination Chamber show on WWE Network this Sunday at 8pmET with an expected run time of three hours. There’s a Kickoff Show starting at 7pmET as well.  I’ll be back here on Monday with a review.