WWE Elimination Chamber 2018: Matches & Predictions

Now that WWE has moved past the Royal Rumble on the Road to ‘Mania 34, the next stop will soon be reached.

The Raw brand will be in control of presenting that pit stop and it’ll feature one of the most incredible structures in wrestling – the Elimination Chamber. And to make matters even more exciting, members of the Raw Women’s roster will compete within the Chamber’s confines for the first time. Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss will try to survive against Bayley, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Sonya Deville, and Sasha Banks. As for the men’s Elimination Chamber match, the individual who leaves victorious will become the #1 contender for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship at ‘Mania 34.

There’s a lot at stake for the Superstars competing at the 2018 Elimination Chamber event. Here’s my batch of predictions on who’ll prevail and who’ll take the ultimate loss.

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Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel)

Predictions & Winner: This is a pretty random pairing as far as Kickoff matchups go. I figured Gallows and Anderson would want some form of revenge against The Revival since they’ve been feuding for a few weeks now. I guess The Revival have moved on to…man, it’s hard to think of another tag team worth facing since the Raw tag team scene is Sahara Desert dry. Which has led us to this out of nowhere contest between Gallows and Anderson and The Miztourage. The Miztourage have been relegated to jobber tag team status, so it’s pretty clear who’s getting the win here.

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Cesaro and Sheamus (c) vs. Titus Worldwide (Apollo and Titus O’Neil) (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)

Predictions & Winner: Now here’s a match that should have been booked for last month’s Royal Rumble! During the buildup leading up to the event, Titus Worldwide got a shocking win over Cesaro and Sheamus. Would have made complete sense for them to get a tag title shot soon after, right? But then Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan ended up wrestling the titles away from Cesaro and Sheamus, which then led to a rematch that ended up with Cesaro and Sheamus getting their titles back. It sucked to see Apollo and Titus O’Neal not get included in the bout between the two aforementioned teams. WWE pretty much repeated the shocking win storyline when Titus Worldwide defeated Cesaro and Sheamus again on the last episode of Raw. And NOW the match that should have been booked in January has finally been booked for February! Anyways, Cesaro and Sheamus are retaining. Titus Worldwide is just a flavor of the month challenge for Cesaro and Sheamus, sadly…

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“Woken” Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt

Predictions & Winner: I’ve already given up on WWE’s version of “Woken” Matt Hardy. Crazy to think that something done and perfected in Impact Wrestling can’t be done with the same level of quality in McMahon-land. Bray Wyatt is permanently damaged goods too, so I have no reason to care about who wins this match. I guess Matt will get the win since he’s been “staring at the lights” for the majority of this feud. Might be time for him to get some type of win now, doesn’t it? Hope they kill this whole ordeal off after this match, though…

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Asuka vs. Nia Jax (If Nia Wins, She’ll be Added to the WWE Raw Women’s Championship Match at WrestleMania 34)

Predictions & Winner: Making a prediction for this one is pretty much a no-brainer, right? The winner of this matchup is practically much a foregone conclusion. Asuka is nigh unstoppable, as evidenced by her main roster run and her win during the inaugural Women’s Royal Rumble. She’s been well protected on Raw and presented as someone who won’t lose so easily. The massive challenge put against her during this event is Nia Jax, someone who’s been defeated by Asuka on both NXT and Raw. This match is pretty much a warmup for Asuka. She’s going to have a tough time putting Nia away, but Asuka will end up beating her come hell or high water. While this bout’s victory stipulation for Nia makes it seem like Asuka will face the Raw Women’s Champion at ‘Mania 34, we all know that’s not the case. WWE’s in the business of producing dream matches, which is why I see Asuka deciding to choose Charlotte for her Women’s Championship opportunity at ‘Mania 34.

Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Bayley vs. Mandy Rose vs. Mickie James vs. Sonya Deville vs. Sasha Banks (Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship)

Predictions & Winner: The women of WWE have competed in a Ladder Match, brawled in the Hell in a Cell, and competed in their very first Royal Rumble. And now they’ll make history once again by fighting tooth and nail within the legendary Elimination Chamber. Alexa Bliss surely has her work cut out for her as she’s entering this match as the defending champion. Her threats come in the form of some past rivals and Paige’s stable running mates. Here’s what I envision for this multi-women bout – Bayley and Banks will be up first and give the crowd a reminder of their past NXT wars. Then, Sonya Deville will enter the bout next and do some damage to both ladies. Later on, her fellow stable member Mandy Rose will hop in and team up with Sonya to dish out some more damage. Mickie James will make her entrance next, which will leave the Raw Women’s Champion as the very last entrant. Sonya and Mandy will be the first women to meet their end, while Mickie will end up biting the bullet soon after. Then Banks will get eliminated later on, which will leave Bliss to contend with Bayley in a thrilling final struggle. But Bliss’ sneaky nature and penchant to outsmart her opponent will result in her finding a way to vanquish Bayley and hold onto her title.

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Braun Strowman vs. Elias vs. Finn Bálor vs. John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz (Elimination Chamber Match for a WWE Universal Championship Match at WrestleMania 34)

Predictions & Winner: Damn, Miz…hate it had to be you, playa. Due to a recent loss he took against John Cena, The Miz will have to enter and compete within the Chamber first. So who do I think’s gonna be his starting opponents? I’m placing all my bets on those individuals being Finn Bálor and Seth Rollins. Since this is the fist time that seven men will compete in the Chamber, I believe three competitors will battle it out to start. After all that triple threat action has subsided, the next man to enter will probably be John Cena, who’ll pull off his usual array of crowd popping moves and reignite his past beefs with Rollins and The Miz. The next man out has to be the “Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman, who’ll proceed to ravage through anyone and everyone in his path. You can expect to see some sort of situation where everyone decides to work together to weaken the big man. This might be a shocker to you all, but I’m picturing Strowman being the first man out of this match. After a ton of damage has been done to Strowman, I can totally see The Miz sneaking away with the pin. A pissed off Strowman will wake up, lay waste to everyone, and cause The Miz to get pinned after all is said and done. This moment will be a great setup for a rumored Intercontinental Championship match between the two at ‘Mania 34.

Once Strowman and The Miz take their leave from the Chamber, Roman Reigns will run in next. I can totally see him and Rollins teaming up for a bit before they eventually square off with each other. Elias, the last man to enter, will have a decent showing upon his arrival but he’ll get eliminated shortly thereafter. As for the next set of eliminations, I’m envisioning Cena and Rollins getting booted from the match next. This will result in a final showdown between Finn and Reigns, which will certainly split the crowd in half or be a majorly pro-Finn situation. They’ll give us all one of the best Elimination Chamber enders in history, I’m hoping. But we all know how this one’s going to end – Reigns will land one final Spear on Finn and get the victory, thereby setting up the super predictable ‘Mania 31 rematch against Brock Lesnar at ‘Mania 34.