Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa
-> Let the Murphy cruiserweight title tour continue as the Australian sensation is given another main roster PPV shot to shine as champion.
Pick: Buddy Murphy retains the title
No DQ Match: Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin
-> Possibly with the assistance of Drew McIntyre, Corbin may come away with the victory here to keep this program going just a bit longer before he finally gets what's coming to him.
Pick: Baron Corbin wins
SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Miz & Shane McMahon (c) vs. The Usos
-> That story, obviously, is the eventual disintegration of the relationship between the reigning tag team champions. They'll retain here over one of the greatest WWE tag teams of all time, but on the same token, this should be where tension brewing between the duo begins to become prevalent.
Pick: The Miz & Shane McMahon retain the titles
Raw Women's Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Ruby Riott
-> This has all the makings to be a stay-busy opportunity for Rousey on the road to a possible WrestleMania main event slot but that doesn't mean it won't shine as one of the best matches of the night. Not only is Riott's in-ring ability somewhat underrated, Rousey has been on a string of incredible pay-per-view matches. Don't expect that streak to end here as it will be fun to see whether Riott can raise her game to an entirely new level.
Pick: Ronda Rousey retains the title
Intercontinental Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) & Lio Rush vs. Finn Balor
-> Coming out of the Brock Lesnar match, it makes a lot of sense for Balor to have a rivalry with Lashley. It's just that it feels like WWE rushed into this a bit when the first showdown between these two probably could have been next month at Fastlane. Instead, WWE has to figure out a way for Balor to lose this match yet keep the rivalry interesting for nearly two months heading into what I expect will be a rematch at 'Mania. The fact that this is a handicap match helps that from a storyline perspective, but it's also horrible booking that Lashley would need any help from Rush to beat Balor.
Pick: Bobby Lashley retains the title
Women's Tag Team Championship (Elimination Chamber): Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. Riott Squad vs. The IIconics vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs. Naomi & Carmella
-> This could really go either way, but ultimately, the key for me is that I believe a heel tag team will win rather than the Boss 'N Hug Connection. Why? It would certainly be nice for Sasha Banks & Bayley to be the first women's tag team champions, but even better would be for them to win the titles for the first time at WrestleMania 35. Though it looks like this will be a multi-brand title, there are far more women on Raw than there are on SmackDown right now -- and they are basically doing nothing on Raw considering Rousey's top challengers are coming from SmackDown. It makes more sense for Jax and Tamina to get built up as a dominant team over the next seven weeks than it does for the Riott Squad to take the titles, so that's how I'm leaning with a storyline progressing towards New York.
Pick: Nia Jax & Tamina win the titles
WWE Championship (Elimination Chamber): Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston
-> Considering what we have seen in the men's version of this match over the past two years, there is no reason to believe this will be anything other than spectacular. But as for handicapping a winner, Bryan remains the best guess because of how he currently is and because there doesn't seem to be an obvious babyface to take the title from him. While Kingston's underdog run through Tuesday's gauntlet match was fun, it would be quite an upset to see him win the title. Either way, look for this match to reveal which path the WWE championship is headed entering WrestleMania.
Pick: Daniel Bryan retains the title
pics (c) by WWE
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen