The second WWE PPV of 2019, Elimination Chamber is set to air in a few hours. After delivering a decent Royal Rumble PPV, WWE will be looking to continue the trend and produce another solid show. A total of 7 matches have been announced for the event. Major superstars like Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and Charlotte Flair are not scheduled to compete at the PPV.
The matches announced for the event are - Nia Jax and Tamina vs. The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan) vs. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville vs. The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) vs. Bayley and Sasha Banks vs. Naomi and Carmella are set to compete in first ever women's Tag team Elimination Chamber match for the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.
The Miz and Shane McMahon (c) vs. The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) are scheduled to fight for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa, Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Ruby Riott, Singles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship.
Bobby Lashley (c) and Lio Rush vs. Finn Bálor in a Handicap match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin in a no disqualification match. And the main event of the night, Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kofi Kingston an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship.
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Even in the absence of a few top tier superstars, the match card looks decent and has the potential to deliver an engaging show. Potential chances of superstar interferences and unpredictable nature of few matches make this an intriguing show. Superstars like Drew McIntyre, Kurt Angle, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch may make their presence felt during the course of the show through interferences in matches involving their arch-rivals.
Here are predictions for the Elimination Chamber PPV by analyzing the recent booking trends and potential Wrestlemania directions of the superstars -
#7 Nia Jax and Tamina vs. The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan) vs. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville vs. The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) vs. Bayley and Sasha Banks vs. Naomi and Carmella - Tag team Elimination Chamber match for the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
The first ever women's tag team elimination chamber match is set to determine the winners of inaugural Women's tag team winners this Sunday. Six teams are going to fight for the titles at the event.
Coming to the winning chances of the teams involved, currently, it looks like only two teams are strong favourites to win the inaugural titles. The teams of Nia Jax, Tamina and Sasha Banks, Bayley are considered as the strong favourites going into the bout. The team of Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville may be the dark horses in this match.
Expect Sasha Banks and Bayley to win the Championships on Sunday by pinning either Billie Kay or Sarah Logan.
Prediction - Boss and Hug Connection( Sasha and Bayley) win the inaugural Women's Tag Team titles
#6 Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa - Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Buddy Murphy has been performing consistently and putting on impressive matches ever since he won the Cruiserweight title at the WWE Supershow down PPV down under. He has already defeated many top 205 live superstars like Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander, Kalisto and Hideo Itami during his title reign
Expect Buddy Murphy to retain his title at the PPV and then walk into Wrestlemania as the WWE Cruiserweight champion.
Prediction - Buddy Murphy retains the WWE Cruiser Weight Championship
#5 The Miz and Shane McMahon (c) vs. The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) - Tag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
This match might play a huge role in sowing seeds to develop a potential feud between Shane McMahon and The Miz going into Wrestlemania 35. They may not break up just as yet but the slow signs of dissension might be visible at the event. They may still be the champions until the WWE Fastlane PPV next month, where they will finally kick off their feud.
Expect The The Miz and Shane McMahon to win the titles after a decent bout.
Prediction - The Miz and Shane McMahon retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
#4 Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin - No disqualification match
This is one of the most predictable matches on the card, given the kind of booking Braun Strowman gets in his PPV matches not involving either Brock Lesnar or Roman Reigns. Other than the two superstars mentioned, Braun Strowman has decimated all his other PPV opponents. Baron Corbin is also expected to be bulldozed by Braun Strowman this Sunday.
There are high chances of outside interference from Drew McIntyre during the bout. Expect Braun Strowman to squash the former Constable of Monday Nigth Raw on Sunday night.
Prediction - Braun Strowman wins
#3 Bobby Lashley (c) and Lio Rush vs. Finn Bálor - Handicap match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
For the second PPV in a row, Finn Balor is going to challenge for a title against a heavyweight wrestler. During last PPV his winning chances were slim but this time around he is a strong favourite to emerge victorious in the IC title bout. Presence of Lio Rush has considerably elevated his winning odds.
Expect Finn Balor to win the IC title by pinning Lio Rush in the middle of the ring after delivering a coup de grace.
Prediction - Finn Balor wins and becomes the new Intercontinental Champion.
#2 Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Ruby Riott - Singles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
The result of this match is quite obvious, given the Wrestlemania plans of Ronda Rousey. Multi-time Raw Women's Champion, Sasha Banks failed to defeat the Ronda Rousey last month so there is no realistic winning chance for Ruby Riott in this bout.
This is obviously just a filler feud for Ronda Rousey. She is expected to bide her time until Fast lane PPV after which she would finally be entering into a blockbuster Wrestlemania program.
Expect Ronda Rousey to win the match after having a decent match.
Prediction - Ronda Rousey retains the Raw Women's Championship
#1 Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kofi Kingston - Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship
All the top Smackdown superstars are set to battle against each other in this year's main event of Elimination Chamber PPV. Daniel Bryan is going to enter the Elimination Chamber as the WWE champion.
This is one of the most unpredictable matches this Sunday. The presence of multiple former World champions adds more intrigue to the match. The match may potentially help in setting up a dream Wrestlemania encounter between AJ Styles and Randy Orton.
Daniel Bryan has been a great heel champion ever since dethroning AJ Styles last year. He may manage to retain the WWE championship at the event. But a bold prediction of this author would be that Randy Orton will win the title at the PPV and then go on to face the phenomenal one AJ Styles with the WWE Championship on the line at Wrestlemania 35.
Prediction - Randy Orton Wins and becomes the new WWE Championship