Below is the current card for Sunday’s WWE Elimination Chamber PPV event, along with my thoughts and predictions.
Ambulance Match: John Cena vs. Kane
CB’s Slant: With John Cena making out with Eve right in front of Zack Ryder on this past Monday’s Raw and Ryder’s subsequent WHEELCHAIR RIDE OF DOOM at the hands of Kane, does anyone in their right mind actually view Cena in this spot as a sympathetic face? If I am rooting for anything here it will be for Kane to brutalize Cena so that John feels Zack Ryder’s pain, and I doubt that’s how I am supposed to feel in this situation. Also, with all this talk of Cena embracing the hate as a way to kind of toughen up his character before facing The Rock, none of this has worked on any level for me in terms of raising my interest level both in the here and now (this match) or for Cena’s persona come WrestleMania 28.
CB’s Says: Cena likely wins to avenge everything that’s happened to Zack Ryder, but no matter what he will still come off as smug and unlikable as a result of his awful dealings with Kane.
Divas Championship Match: Beth Phoenix (champion) vs. Tamina Snuka
CB’s Slant: Even if Tamina Snuka is nothing more than a placeholder for Kharma, I have thoroughly enjoyed Tamina’s complete character makeover. She should have been booked like this from the beginning, and I love the way she pays tribute to her father by utilizing the Superfly Splash. Now, can someone tell me why Michael McGillicutty can’t be repackaged in similar fashion? Seriously, let the guy use his real name and let him pay homage to his father. As for this match…
CB’s Says: Beth Phoenix retains against a tough opponent, keeping her strong for Kharma.
SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan (champion) vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show vs. Great Khali vs. Wade Barrett vs. Santino Marella
CB’s Slant: For those who missed it, WWE made an official announcement on Tuesday night that Randy Orton had been removed from the SmackDown Elimination Chamber due to a concussion (at least that’s the storyline explanation). Of all people, Randy’s replacement wound up being none other than Santino Marella, who won a battle royal at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping (airing tonight) to secure the newly vacant slot / pod in this match.
As for the match itself, if anyone was going to come out of nowhere to win it, it would be Santino. I say this because WWE wouldn’t give the belt to a younger heel like Wade Barrett or Cody Rhodes unless they were going to crown a new long-term champion, and if anyone was going to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Daniel Bryan on Sunday it would be someone who Bryan could immediately win the Big Gold Belt back from sometime in the next two weeks. As for Khali and Big Show, Khali should never touch the gold again as he is much better off being a special attraction (preferably overseas), and Big Show already held the title for a minute recently so I doubt he would become a short-term transitional champion here.
But Santino, well, he could win in what would be an awesome shocking moment for the WWE Universe, and it could propel Daniel Bryan to new heights of irateness that leads him to pull out all of the stops to wrestle the title back away from Santino before moving on to face Sheamus at WrestleMania 28 as planned. Therefore, and I can’t believe I’m saying this…
CB’s Says: Santino Marella wins the World Heavyweight Championship with help from Sheamus in one of the most shocking wins in WWE history. Daniel Bryan will then win it back when he gets his automatic rematch, but not before Santino gets this epic moment to celebrate for the rest of his career.
Raw Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Championship: CM Punk (champion) vs. Chris Jericho vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston
CB’s Slant: If I am going to go for the surprise winner over on the SmackDown side of things, I’ll have to keep this one a little closer to the vest where Raw is concerned. Honestly, this match should be booked with every intention of putting Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk at the end of it all, possibly with Kofi Kingston third. R-Truth is in this match for nothing more than comic relief (and perhaps to jump around a little bit), while Miz is in the middle of a massive de-elevation and Dolph Ziggler just spent the last PPV losing four times in the same match to CM Punk.
Kofi Kingston is dependable enough to pop the crowd and believable enough to come close to winning, but I must reiterate that at the end of the day this should become the Punk and Jericho show. And in this battle of gamesmanship for the WWE Championship…
CB’s Says: CM Punk retains and Chris Jericho comes in second place for the second straight PPV. Let the spin-doctoring begin for Y2J…
With all of that said, be sure to check out the official Rasslin’ Roundtable this weekend where all most of your favorite Pulse Wrestling columnists will sound off on Sunday’s proceedings and check back right here on Pulse Wrestling for live streaming coverage of the WWE Elimination Chamber PPV on Sunday night!
That’s all from me — CB.
