While Monday Night Raw was still beating around what happened at the Royal Rumble, SmackDown Live decided to focus on the future and began building up for Elimination Chamber. When WWE first announced that Elimination Chamber would be a SmackDown pay-per-view, there were some raised eyebrows but the way WWE booked last week’s SmackDown Live, silenced a lot of critics.
Now, WWE has to take forward this momentum and focus on the road ahead. Some exciting sub-plots have already been laid out for the upcoming show and just like every week, we are going to take a look at the possible segments that WWE could come up with.
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#5 The Tag Team turmoil
One notable booking decision that WWE made last week was booking the Tag Team turmoil match which was booked for Tag titles at Elimination chamber. Chad Gable and Jason Jordan will have to defend their title against five other teams and this was much needed in the division.
All the teams were overshadowed by how Royal Rumble was designed and the Tag team championships needed something different to bounce back.
While multi-tag team matches are bound to produce chaos when they finally happen, WWE has some interesting options during the buildup and since they have been on a good run, they are likely to carry forward this momentum for this storyline as well.
#4 Naomi for gold
Naomi got a big boost in her booking when she secured a title shot against Alexa Bliss for Elimination Chamber. She was only restricted to being a second fiddle in the SmackDown Women’s division for a long time and pushing her into the title scene now comes as a surprise.
Last week, Naomi got one over Alexa and this is what got her the title shot in the first place. Building up Naomi as a credible babyface that could go up against Alexa would be the major concern for WWE. The efforts for the same will be evident from this week itself and it would be good to keep an eye on this feud.
#3 Separating the Intercontinental championship
The problem with Elimination chamber being a SmackDown pay-per-view is the shallow roster that SmackDown has. Almost all of the big names are put into the match and this leaves the other mid card championships unattended. The best example of this is Dean Ambrose and his Intercontinental Championship.
Now that Ambrose is booked for Elimination chamber, it would be understandable if he is involved in the Chamber storyline. But rather than doing that, WWE could make the Intercontinental championship a sub-plot for the Chamber match.
One of the other Chamber participants could act as a challenger for Ambrose, giving WWE another layer to the storyline.
#2 Building the chamber match
The Elimination Chamber match, as mentioned earlier, would require build up. While the Ambrose’s Intercontinental Championship run could be a major sub-plot for the match, one other area that WWE could focus on is Bray Wyatt. He made his intentions clear last week and with Randy Orton by his side, Bray is bound to get a strong booking.
After shining in Rumble, Baron Corbin will also be looking to make a similar impact heading into the Chamber match. Elsewhere, the interaction between John Cena and Miz would be something to watch out for since there are rumours of a potential feud between Cena and Miz for WrestleMania.
#1 Unhappy star?
AJ Styles did not get his one-on-one rematch for the WWE Championship against John Cena after dropping the title at Royal Rumble. The biggest hurdle for Styles was the Elimination chamber announcement from Shane McMahon and it would be understandable if he is not happy about how Shane booked the match.
This is a storyline that WWE could expand if it wants these two Superstars to clash in the future. Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles makes sense on the grounds of storyline, as there is a clear motive for both Superstars. If Shane cannot wrestle, he could get someone to wrestle Styles as well, with the ideal choice being The Undertaker.
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