Can They Be Champ? 02.10.08: WWE and the Elimination Chambers of Secrets

Well, it looks like the No Way Out will be having not one, but two elimination chambers at No Way Out. I think some feel like they may be stretching the gimmick match a bit thin, but considering we haven’t had a decent elimination chamber match since January 2006, I don’t really mind. Besides, it’s a decent way to figure out who the number one contenders will be at WrestleMania without making one brand feel less important than the other. I mean what if Raw had an elimination chamber and Smackdown just had some lame tournament?

Also, this is going to help the No Way Out PPV immensely. Remember last year’s main event? I don’t, let me look it up real quick…

Oh boy, an inter-promtional tag team match that wasn’t for anything. John Cena and Shawn Michaels vs. Batista and Undertaker? Thrilling. Especially considering that those men tagged a total of about a dozen times on Raw and Smackdown leading up to WrestleMania. Cena and Michaels were the tag champions after all.

Why don’t we talk a bit predictions a bit? But first, podcast plug!

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The monthly TNA conference call with Karen Angle is up.

TO STREAM: Simply press the play button on the podcast player.

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Before we talk about No Way Out, let’s revisit my Royal Rumble predictions once again.

#1 and #2 entrants: HBK and Mr. Kennedy.

Well, I was half right. Starting with Taker as the number one man was actually a really cool choice, especially with HBK being second. Letting both men go so long really helped the whole first half of the rumble. Mr. Kennedy would actually end up being the #23 entrant.

Final Four: HHH, Undertaker, Batista, and Mr. Kennedy.

Well, I got HHH and Batista right. Mr. Kennedy was in the final five, so… kind of close, I guess. Also, I obviously didn’t predict Cena’s surprise return. Too bad, it would have been real impressive if I did. The final four were. HHH, Batista, John Cena, and Kane.

Longest time in the ring: Mr. Kennedy.

Well, this one was sort of counting on Kennedy being either the number one or two entrant. Batista was actually the 2008 Royal Rubmle iron man. He entered from #8, and lasted 37:42. Don’t take my word for it, but I think that is one of the shorter iron man runs in recent rumble history.

Shortest time the ring: Santino Marella.

I was pretty close. Santino only lasted 25 seconds. Shelton Benjamin actually had the shortest run, with only 18 seconds. Boor Shelton, so much for the “Golden Standard”.

Surprise entrant: Big Show.

I think almost everyone was expecting Big Show to be the #30 entrant. Of course, the surprise entrant would end up being John Cena. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Alright, I got two of them half right. So I got one right.

Let’s talk about the elimination chambers a little bit. It’s time to make some more predictions to later regret.

Actually, I feel pretty good about these predictions. I think just about everyone else is calling for the same thing. HHH will win the Raw elimination chamber, and Cena will win the WWE title from Orton, setting up Cena vs. HHH at WM24. We knew that the WWE wanted to do this match last year, but couldn’t due to HHH’s injury. Now that HHH is healthy, and Cena is (hopefully) healthy, it looks like they can finally have their matches.

Honestly, the only other Raw main event I would have thought likely for WM was Orton vs. Cena, and since they’re doing that at No Way Out, it’s out of the window. I personally would have rather seen that match at WM24. Orton’s title run was surprisingly good, and I think it’s a bit of a bummer that he’s going to come so short of being the champ at WrestleMania.

What other elimination chamber participant can you see being in a WM main event with Cena? Jericho isn’t hot enough to main event such an important show at the moment, just recently returning to action. The same goes for JBL (I don’t think anyone wants to see a WM21 rematch between Cena and JBL).Umaga… well, WrestleMania main event material he aint. HBK? Well, HBK has been playing second fiddle to HHH for awhile now.

HHH will win. I feel just as sure about as I felt about him winning the Royal Rumble this year.

See what I did there?

Now, how about the Smackdown elimination chamber? Well, let’s assume that Edge will be the champion going into WM24. I don’t see Rey Mysterio main eventing a WrestleMania anytime too soon.

Obviously, Edge vs. Undertaker seems like the most likely main event for WM24. People have been predicting that match for a long time now. Now, the only thing that could upset it is if they go with that Taker/HBK match at WM that some have predicted. I don’t think they will. People were reading into their Royal Rumble interactions a bit much. I think it was simply meant to play on their Rumble performances of the previous year. I don’t think it meant anything more than that.

Batista vs. Edge would be the next most likely WM24 match, but that has already been done quite a bit in 2007. But who knows, I mean, I have a hard time imagining what else Batista is going to do at WM. Finlay is obviously working towards some sort of program with Vince, so he’s out. MVP is likely to defend his US Title, probably against Matt Hardy. Great Khali or Big Daddy V? No.

I wish these predictions were a little more wild or difficult to make, but they are what they are. HHH will win the Raw elimination chamber, and Taker will win the Smackdown elimination chamber.

You know, with two elimination chambers and two title matches, No Way Out looks like it will be a pretty good show this year.

Oh, how about a quick word about Against All Odds? The main event will be Angle vs. Christian, which is a main event that I actually wouldn’t mind seeing. Now, I think Angle will be the likely winner here, since a continued Joe/Angle feud has practically been given more importance on Impact than the Angle/Christian feud. Expect Angle to win, and expect Joe to do something screwy.

You know, I haven’t been covering TNA all that much lately. I admit, I only watch the show occasionally these days. If you want me to cover TNA more, tell me so in the comments section, and I’ll make a greater effort to do so.

If you want to post comment, feel free to e-mail me.

Have a good week, everyone. See you next time.