As of this morning, four matches have been announced for WWE’s debut Elimination Chamber (formerly No Way Out) pay-per-view…
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Elimination Chamber
Champion The Undertaker vs. John Morrison vs. Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk vs. R-Truth vs. Rey Mysterio
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Elimination Chamber
Champion Sheamus vs. John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston vs. HHH vs. Ted DiBiase, Jr.
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Kane
DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP
Tournament Finals
Maryse vs. Gail Kim
WWE’s February PPV of course used to be called No Way Out in the U.S., but the promotion has renamed it, along with several others. Here’s a list from WWE.com of upcoming events, through September:
For fans outside the U.S., WWE.com has also published PPV details for around the world.
My thoughts: With Survivor Series, typically held in November, being canceled, I’m hoping they don’t replace it, and instead move one of last year’s October PPVs (Hell in a Cell or Bragging Rights) to November, bringing the total number of PPVs down to 12, or one per month. While Breaking Point was a bust, they just launched Hell in a Cell, Bragging Rights and TLC (December), and I personally like the idea of gimmicks on each PPV in order to draw an audience who might otherwise skip a more generically-named event. In fact, Bragging Rights might be a perfect place for a War Games or quasi-Survivor Series-type main event (or series of them), or the culmination of a major tournament (a la King of the Ring, assuming they don’t prefer to have that as a TV draw like in the recent past). Another suggestion: take a page out of UFC’s playbook (and similar to what TNA is doing with the all X Division event in March) and take a few chances with non heavyweight title match main events. Why not build the tag division for a few months post-Mania and have a major tag main event one month? Or depending on the format of NXT, perhaps one month, the main event can be the “season finale” of that reality hybrid show, where the winner gets a contract to joint the WWE roster (RAW or SD) or his choosing? I know good creative build-up often leads to strong PPV buyrates, but when every PPV features the same titles and often the same wrestlers fighting for them, it shouldn’t be surprising if tonight’s UFC 110 draws a bigger audience than tomorrow’s Elimination Chamber.
