Posted in: Doctor's Orders
A Priest and A Doctor Watching Wrestling (Elimination Chamber Preview)
By Dr. CMV1
Feb 18, 2011 - 9:23:18 PM

So, a Doctor and a Priest walk into a bar...and the WWE is featured on one of the TVs. They start talking about the Elimination Chamber...

Dr. Chad Matthews

Elimination Chamber: John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. King Sheamus vs. John Morrison vs. CM Punk vs. R-Truth - Two key feuds are at play heading into this match: Cena vs. Miz and Orton vs. Punk. And since that seems so very concrete, this will be the first Elimination Chamber in a few years that will be fairly predictable. Of course, they could pull a swerve like they did the last few years and change plans at the last minute again. Going into this, though, it would seem that John Cena is the runaway favorite to get the victory and go on to face Miz for the WWE title at Wrestlemania. Yet, some remain persistent that a guy like John Morrison could sneak a victory and surprise everyone. I look at it this way: Morrison was not trusted to even main-event Raw with his title match. Why would he be trusted to main-event Wrestlemania? I actually like the straightforward approach this year and hope that John Cena wins. I think he and Miz are a unique main-event at Mania waiting to happen, since the two of them are the ones likely to be doing all of the promotional appearances. I think that could add a new wrinkle we don’t normally see in the main-event. Other things that I’m looking for are a strong appearance by King Sheamus and the storyline advancement of Punk vs. Orton (another Mania match I’m pumped up about).

Elimination Chamber: World Champion Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler (?) vs. Wade Barrett vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane - Ziggler is supposed to be out of this match, now, but I’m not sure what is going to happen in that regard. They are leaving the element of surprise open to interpretation. I personally would like to see Ziggler get his chance in the Chamber and be one of the final participants. He’s really stepped up his game since getting involved in the main-event scene in the last month. I hope he gets another opportunity to shine. I’m not sure where the intrigue is supposed to come from this match. Edge vs. Del Rio is already advertised. If there is a swerve coming, then I’m not sure what it would be. Yet, I do sort of smell a potential swerve.

WWE Champion The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler - Here is the match that I am most intrigued by. Jerry Lawler is old. The Miz is young. The King is going to be motivated as can be to show the world that he can hang with the brash champion and The Miz is seemingly on a never ending quest to prove himself. The combination of those two factors should provide for a fun story told. The intrigue is not who will win the match, but it lies with how the finish will play out. The WWE Champ could use a strong win, but that’s not been the way he’s been booked. As a classic heel, he’s great, but there’s no denying that he could use a convincing victory. If he were to go out and dominate Lawler, downright embarrassing him, then that would be the ideal scenario to build his credibility for a match against Super Cena. I don’t feel that’s the way it will play out, though. We’ll see what happens. ..

Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio - We know one half of one of the main-events at Mania and it will feature Del Rio, yet this will be his first PPV singles match. Kofi is a strong enough worker that, given the card is only four matches, Del Rio should be able to get a strong showcase performance on Sunday. This is an opportunity for Kingston, as well. If he steps up his game, he can set himself up for a move up the card later in the year.

PRIEST

The Miz VS Jerry “The King” Lawler - Although I’m hardly expecting a five star classic, I’m quite looking forward to see where the WWE are going to go with this one. It’ll be interesting to see the two have a pay-per-view title match without gimmicks to fall back on. I’m one of the few who don’t have a problem with Lawler being given a title match. The Elimination Chamber match is being treated the same as the Royal Rumble, in the sense that the WWE are looking to put their biggest stars in it to keep everybody guessing and give the winner as much of a rub as possible, whilst showing that to earn a title match at WrestleMania, you have to beat the best. Therefore, the WWE need somebody for The Miz to face that would make sense and has an element of intrigue attached to it. The tantalising suggestion that Lawler could finally win his first world title is one that I’m looking forward to, even if he would drop the title back the next night on RAW. Still, I don’t see that happening and except The Awesome One to win cleanly before going onto WrestleMania as champion. I never thought I’d be predicting that three months ago when he won the title, but it shows just how over Miz is right now and how much faith the company have in him. After all, the recent return of a certain someone guarantees a strong buyrate, so the company is doing the right thing in giving Miz the ball and letting him run with it. His title reign has been a lot more successful than people have given it credit for.

Kofi Kingston VS Alberto Del Rio - I don’t really see what the point of this match is, other than for filler and to give Del Rio some pay-per-view experience in a one on one match. Del Rio beat Kofi two weeks ago on Smackdown, so what else does he need to prove here? I’m not going to even contemplate the possibility of a Kofi win when Alberto is just weeks away from headlining WrestleMania. Del Rio cannot afford to lose any momentum going into WrestleMania if he wants to be seen as a credible challenger. I firmly believe Del Rio can be a big star in the WWE, but they have to handle him carefully. I still think the WWE should’ve gone for a Del Rio/Booker T match with Kofi defending the IC title, possibly against Swagger. A win over a six time world champion would do more for Del Rio than a win over a mid carder who he beat two weeks ago. Still, I suppose it is better than leaving him off the card altogether and it should be a good match, but there is only one winner here and it isn’t the man from Jamaica/Ghana.

RAW Elimination Chamber Match - This is probably the hardest match to predict out of the four, though I am still pretty confident with my prediction. I think we can eliminate R-Truth and Sheamus from the equation pretty quickly, who have as much chance of winning this as I do of scoring with Layla. Given we have just seen Miz and Orton on the last few pay-per-views I don’t anticipate it happening yet again. With that in mind, you can rule Punk out as well given it seems nailed on the two will be having a match at WrestleMania. That leaves us with John Morrison and John Cena, two men who could both realistically walk out of the chamber with the victory.

If Cena wins the chamber match, the most logical outcome would be for The Rock to be the special guest referee for Cena VS Miz. If Morrison was to win this Sunday, it would leave Cena free to face The Rock one on one. While there’s no doubt we would all love to see the latter, I don’t think it’s likely to happen. I doubt Rock will be on RAW every week, or at all, as WrestleMania would lose its appeal and mystique of having him if we get him for free every week anyway. Plus, The Rock said he would see Cena, not face him. Sorry folks, but it isn’t going to happen. It has been a long time since Cena was not in the main event title match at WrestleMania and Miz needs that big moment with him to confirm his status as a permanent main event player. Cena is by far the most likely to win this Sunday, but it wouldn’t surprise me for the WWE to throw us a curveball and have Morrison emerge triumphant.

Smackdown Elimination Chamber match - Similarly to the RAW match, I only see two people with a legitimate chance of winning here. The best McIntyre can hope for is to not be eliminated first, while Kane and Barrett won’t win simply for the fact that it would mean a heel versus heel encounter at WrestleMania. Smackdown is lacking top babyfaces at the minute which means there is an air of inevitability surrounding the match; though Ziggler being ‘fired’ with a spot left open does help elevate the mystery. A Mysterio win would be an interesting twist given the history between Del Rio and him, and would actually make a nice finale to their feud. The problem with that is I would expect Del Rio to take the belt off him which would mean yet another disappointing, short-lived Mysterio title reign. There has been some build towards a Del Rio/Edge match, but not nearly enough for my liking. His countless matches with Ziggler in recent weeks have meant yet another WrestleMania main event with a small amount of build. The hype between the two should’ve started the night after the Royal Rumble and continued instead of waiting until now, but it still seems the most likely option at this point.

There is, however, one more mystery opponent in this match. Assuming Ziggler doesn’t worm his way back into it, I think all signs point to a returning Christian taking the last spot. Del Rio against Christian at WrestleMania would make sense and would be a good match, but I think it is simply wishful thinking. I expect to see Christian make his return, but the idea of him winning his first world title is a little ambitious in my eyes. Edge retaining seems to make the most sense to me, and would give Del Rio the biggest rub if they are planning on giving him the title come WrestleMania.

A Doctor and a Priest Watching Wrestling

Doc: Alright, Priest...we've got one last PPV before the complete focus turns to Wrestlemania. As for the Rumble, we've just got four matches to preview for Elimination Chamber. Let's start with the most recently added match between Alberto Del Rio and Kofi Kingston. Many seem a little disenchanted with ADR...how do you feel he's being booked right now?

Priest: If you take the last six months into the equation, I'd say on the whole, he's made giant strides towards the main event. The problem I have here is, there are still many who question his main event credibility in a kayfabe sense. I'm not sure what a win over Kofi does for him at this point, but I guess the problem comes from the lack of babyfaces on Smackdown. If Booker is out of the question, perhaps a cross brand match would've been the answer. How do you see it Doc?

Doc: I certainly don't think that a win over Kofi will hurt, but I'm not sure it will help either. I'm sort of indifferent, here. From that kayfabe sense you spoke of, I guess beating the IC champ carries some value with it (certainly not like it did in the past). There's also been some rumor that they might put the IC title on the line and have ADR win it to make his match with Edge at Mania champ vs. champ. How would you feel about that?

Priest: If that's the case, I don't see Del Rio winning the strap come WrestleMania. If he was to win both belts, the WWE would be backing themselves into a corner, as he would almost certainly drop one in the short term. If he was to lose the IC belt, it would almost devalue the World Title and kill his credibility as the champion of a brand. I'm not sure what winning the IC title will do for him at this point, especially if they have plans for him to win at WrestleMania. Do you think it could it lead to problems down the line or am I simply over analysing it?

Doc: If they do go down that road, I would imagine that Del Rio would simply give up one title, which would then be held up in a tournament. I honestly don't see that being the plan; just the usually Meltzer nonsense and generalizations. So, let's cut to the chase: who do you think wins on Sunday?

Priest: I don't see it as a case of who I think will win, it's a case of who needs to win. I really would not see the logic in a Kingston victory here. Del Rio has to win this, and I fully expect him to if they want him to be seen as a legitimate threat to Edge. Do you agree?

Doc: I wholeheartedly agree. Del Rio needs a win. Talk is getting cheap. Step it up, Alberto. So, let's move to the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match. Edge is defending his World title. With he and ADR already billed on the WWE's website as one of the main-events for Wrestlemania, is it not just a foregone conclusion that Edge retains?

Priest: Logically speaking, yes. But as we all know, the WWE loves to surprise us, especially at this time of the year. The main reason I feel we could have a surprise is the fact that we now have a spot open for the match. But, when you think about it, I don't think there is anybody that could possibly fill that void and walk away with the title.

Doc: The WWE has had a recent penchant for surprising us at this PPV. For the last two years, the world titles have changed hands 5 times. That is a telling statistic, but I just don't see that being the case this year. For once, I think the obvious winner will be the obvious winner. One idea: ADR is the final entrant and he wins the title. Edge faces ADR in a rematch and this year's surprise is ADR winning the belt.

Priest: That is certainly one idea. However, I'm sticking with Christian, and I expect him to have a prominent role in the development of the Edge/Del Rio conflict. The WWE have a golden opportunity to make it personal by drawing on the Edge and Christian friendship, as Christian will no doubt go after Del Rio to try and exact revenge. If this was to happen, Del Rio could send a clear message to his opponent by making an example of his 'best friend'. Unless the WWE can use something like this to progress the storyline, I don't see their match having the kind of hype a World Title match should have at WrestleMania.

Doc: Hey, I love the idea of bringing Christian into the fold! I think Edge will retain the World title, though.

Priest: I agree. What about the WWE Title match between The Miz and Jerry 'The King' Lawler? Are you looking forward to it as much as I am?

Doc: I am. In fact, that's the match I'm most excited to see. Lawler in a World title match will produce a motivated veteran hungry to show everyone that he belongs...and since Miz is hungry to prove that he belongs, as well, I think they could surprise people with the quality of their match.

Priest: Couldn't have said it better myself. I expect the match to be more about the story than the action though. The WWE really have done a great job of making a match with a 61 year old commentator so intriguing. But for me, the Miz has to win all by himself. Is this where The Miz finally gets a clean title defence without any help from Riley or Cole?

Doc: I think he needs to, but I'm not sure that he's going to. The story of his title reign is that he gets by via the skin of his teeth. I agree that getting a clean win - a dominant one even - would be the best thing for his credibility amongst the IWC, but I'm not sure that's what they have in mind. Another cheap win and that just makes the fans that much more eager to see him lose, right?

Priest: True, but the line has to be drawn somewhere. We talked earlier about developing Del Rio's credibility. Although it has become part of Miz's character, I think it's time to give him the clean win. The idea of him facing John Cena without a clean victory in months seems a little off to me.

Doc: You won't get any argument from me on that front...but I think they'll get Cole or Riley involved in some way to set up Lawler's match for Mania. If Miz does win clean, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Priest: We're agreeing too much for my liking here Doc, I'm also going for yet another scrappy win for The Miz. I expect us to be in agreement for the RAW Elimination Chamber match too, unfortunately. You're going for R-Truth, right?

Doc: I'm going for King Sheamus...LA-OCH!

Priest: Sheamus VS The Miz, it has buyrates written all over it...

Doc: Anything involving Sheamus is awesome...I'm not really sure there's much to talk about with the Raw Chamber, in terms of predicting a winner. It's John Cena...it seems all but written down on the WWE website that it will be Cena vs. Miz for the title at Wrestlemania

Priest: The only other possible winner I could see is John Morrison, but I think The Miz needs that big moment with Cena. If The Rock does guest referee as reported, it could tip the balance Miz's way ever so slightly. If that happens, with all the attention on The Rock and Cena, do you think Miz could end up being forgotten about?

Doc: Absolutely I do, which is why I hate that idea of Rock being the guest ref. He is hosting the event; why would he ref a match? Rock would steal not only Miz's heat, but Cena's, too. It would be The Rock's match instead of Cena vs. Miz. That's not fair and that would be stupid. Thus, I feel that it should not happen...

Priest: To be honest, I'm not sure how they are even going to use The Great One. He is obviously going to play a huge part of WrestleMania, so I expect more than just a promo and a random Rock Bottom. As much as I agree with you, if he doesn't guest referee the match, I'm not sure what he's going to be doing there.

Doc: Well, perhaps the Doc and Priest can walk into a bar on another night to discuss that...but here's the million dollar question for Elimination Chamber: do you care enough to watch?

Priest: Luckily, we're getting it for free over here anyway, but I am still pretty excited for the event. I'd like a stronger undercard, but with WrestleMania just weeks away, the two feature matches should ensure the buyrate isn't a disaster, as well as the 'feel good' factor the WWE has right now. Will you be ordering the pay-per-view come Sunday?

Doc: I can't in good faith order a PPV that is seemingly so predictable, but I will venture out to a local bar to take a gander at it with limited excitement. Honestly, I'm just ready for this PPV to be over so we can focus on Wrestlemania. I wish there wasn't a February PPV, to be quite honest.

Priest: Me too, I do think The Elimination Chamber pay-per-view has a place in the line up, but definitely not now. I wouldn't mind seeing it as a prelude to SummerSlam with two chamber number one contender matches, especially if they are serious about building its prestige to be on a par with WrestleMania. But, I guess that's a different topic for another night.

Doc: Indeed...well, I guess it's last call at the bar and we need to head out before we get locked in, here. For the Priest, I'm Dr. CMV1...enjoy Elimination Chamber and we'll catch ya next time...

QUESTION: Do you think there will be a swerve this Sunday? What will it be?