Elimination Chamber predictions

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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There’s a fork in the Road to WrestleMania as SmackDown Live holds the Elimination Chamber event Sunday night. Based on the rumored WrestleMania card I’ve seen it looks as if there are going to be some significant changes happening at the show. I’m not crazy about the rumor and innuendo, but I will save that for the aftermath of what happens and focus on the here and now.

The internet is buzzing that Bray Wyatt is going to win the WWE World Championship in the Elimination Chamber match. As much as I’d love for Bray to win and go into WrestleMania as the champion, I do have some criticism of that move. What was the point of taking the belt off AJ Styles and having John Cena tie Ric Flair’s 16 title reigns if he’s only going to drop it two weeks after winning it? Again I don’t know that Bray is going to win, but if that’s the story they’re going with, I would have rather seen AJ retain at the Royal Rumble and drop it in the Chamber. Cena could then work up to the tie-breaking win at SummerSlam or Survivor Series later this year.

Orton, Harper and Wyatt
Courtesy: WWE

Randy Orton will beat Luke Harper, but only because he needs the momentum going into the championship match at Mania. I hate when the top contender loses prior to a big match. Harper will be a success in his solo venture, and I suspect he’ll be getting a bigger push in the post-WrestleMania months.

Alexa, Mickie and Becky
Courtesy: WWE

Alexa Bliss will retain against Naomi. I love the partnership she and Mickie James have created. To me, it’s the female version of the bromance with Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho on Raw. Speaking of the ladies, Becky Lynch will beat Mickie. I do think Mickie is great, but I believe her return has been done primarily to help put over the ladies of the SmackDown Live brand. And I’m okay with that, as it won’t tarnish the accomplishments of this former women’s champion.

Nikki Bella will beat Natalya. I’m not going to be a hater, but I really do not enjoy Nikki at all. I respect the fact that she has returned from a career-threatening injury and continues to work while apparently in pain. But Natalya has been crapped on by creative for years. She reminds me of Daniel Bryan in that regard, but sadly the fans have connected with her and got behind her like they did with Bryan.

The tag team division lately feels like an afterthought. There’s another multi-team match with the titles on the line. With three different sets of champs since the brand split over the summer, I’d personally like to see American Alpha retain and focus on just one team at a time.

I don’t know who it should be, but I’d like to see Dolph Ziggler get help from someone to beat Apollo Crews and Kalisto. Whether a manager, valet or new tag team partner, Ziggler needs someone to make him whole again. I still say Ric Flair would be perfect for the managerial role for Ziggler.

The Mojo Rawley-Curt Hawkins match could be an interesting one. In all honesty, I haven’t paid attention to whether they’re playing off the Zack Ryder connection between these two. As hopeful as I am for this developing feud, I’m not so sure it’ll get the love and attention from creative.

How do you think the Elimination Chamber event will go? Post your thoughts on this page or on Facebook.

Don't Fight Owens Don't Fight

Cena can't see Owens
Photo courtesy: WWE

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

Long time readers know my biggest pet peeve when it comes to professional wrestling storylines is the lack of logic. I can suspend my belief when it comes to the actual wrestling match. Why wouldn’t a wrestler bounce off the ropes and keep running? Due to his height, it’s “believable” only Rey Mysterio’s opponents would fall onto the second rope thus setting up the 619.  But when wrestlers do or say something that is illogical, I am taken out of the story and then use this forum to complain about the lack of logic. 

Will Cena win the rematch?
Photo courtesy: WWE

This brings me to the current Kevin Owens/John Cena feud. Don’t get me wrong;  I’m enjoying the feud. I’m glad to see Kevin Owens on the main roster and the fact that he did what Bray Wyatt and Rusev should have but didn’t do, makes him look more impressive. However, I have a feeling WWE’s patented protective 50-50 booking is going to negate Owens’ impact. 

Owens wins
Photo courtesy: WWE

While it was surprising for Owens to cleanly beat Cena in their match at Elimination Chamber, I was shaking my head in disbelief when before the show was over, Michael Cole was already promoting a rematch in two weeks at Money In The Bank. Take away my dislike of WWE Network Specials (are they still officially PPVs or is there an official new description?) usually being about 75% rematches from the previous show, there’s no logical reason for Kevin Owens to agree to a rematch. 

Since Kevin Owens beat Cena in their first match, what incentive does Owens have to fight Cena again? The first match was a non-title match so logically the rematch could be for John Cena’s United States Title. Kevin Owens, though, has already said he doesn’t care about the title and values his NXT title as a bigger prize than the US title. If Owens wanted to fight for a title, wouldn’t it logically make sense for him to go after Seth Rollins’ WWE Championship and claim that by beating the WWE standard bearer of the last decade, Owens has proved himself worthy of said title shot? 

War of words
Photo courtesy: WWE

During Kevin Owens’ promo on Monday night, John Cena interrupted and rambled on about Owens not being a man because a real man wouldn’t need to come out and brag about winning the match. Cena told a kid battling cancer to keep fighting and never give up.  Cena continued to ramble on in what was more an attempt to let the kids in the audience know John Cena was still a fighter and would keep fighting more than being about Kevin Owens.  Owens himself never addressed the reason for the rematch in two weeks before leaving the ring and walking away from Cena. 

So my question is, other than it’s easier to book a rematch than come up with and build a meaningful match in two weeks, WHY is Kevin Owens agreeing to fight John Cena? What’s the upside for Kevin Owens?

Eliminating Audience Interest

By Chad Smart@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

WWE’s Elimination Chamber 2014 is in the books. The show itself was a very entertaining show with a Match of the Year candidate in The Shield vs. Wyatt Family and a competitive Elimination Chamber match. In my opinion there was no “bad” match on the show. If you didn’t see the pay per view, I would recommend checking it out if you get a chance.

That said, we are six weeks from Wrestlemania and based on results from the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber and fan reaction to certain Superstars, WWE either needs to change creative direction or risk the main event at Wrestlemania to be met with enough fan apathy to make it seem like a dark match between two unknown talents.  

By virtue of winning the Royal Rumble match, Batista will challenge Randy Orton for the WWE Title. During Elimination Chamber, the WWE Universe made it pretty obvious this is not a match they care to see. During his match against Alberto Del Rio, Batista was met with chants of BOOTISTA. The crowd also gave Del Rio probably a bigger face reaction during the match then he ever got during his short-term face run a couple years ago. At various points during the Elimination Chamber match, champion Randy Orton was also met with boos and non-favorable cheers.

Ever since winning, and then losing, the WWE title at SummerSlam 2013, the logical closing moment of Wrestlemania has been Daniel Bryan overcoming the odds and winning the WWE title to cement his place in WWE history.  However, after three straight pay per views where he was cheated out of the title by The Authority followed by being left out of the Royal Rumble match and losing the Elimination Chamber due to interference by Kane, WWE is risking fans accepting the guy they want to see as champion will never get the belt and tuning out due to not being satisfied.  

Last year, fans were excited for Dolph Ziggler to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and become champion. One title defense later where Ziggler lost the title, he has fallen back to mid-card purgatory and fan reaction has cooled off. In 2012, Zack Ryder got himself over with the fans with a YouTube show. A short run as US Champion and getting treated like a lovelorn sap crushing on Eve was all Ryder got out of his popularity. These days you’re more likely to see a guest appearance from an Attitude Era star than you do of seeing Zack Ryder on Raw.

Because of the track record with wrestlers the fans have chosen to organically support and then watch as WWE fails to capitalize on that support, I wonder if WWE fans will start to look for other forms of entertainment that don’t leave them frustrated and upset.  I know I am in the section of the fan base which will watch no matter what because I have the “sickness” but what about casual fans who have other interests? Will they reach a point where enough is enough and they turn to other forms of entertainment for satisfaction?  

Kevin and I will be at Wrestlemania, and to be honest, I’m hoping WWE sticks with the Orton/Batista match. Not because I want to see the match, but because I want to say I was there when 80,000 people hijacked a show and gave the best worst Wrestlemania moment.

Elimination Chamber Predictions

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Friday I posted a video with my predictions on the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay per view.  Today, I just wanted to share a few more thoughts.  I like doing videos, but always think of points I wanted to make after the fact.

Orton with the gold
Photo courtesy: WWE

Even though I'd rather just about anyone else on the roster be the WWE World Heavyweight champion right now, Randy Orton has done a good job of playing the heel champion since winning both belts back in December.  I've never been a huge fan, but obviously there are lots of people out there who love him.  I do think the Yes Movement with Daniel Bryan will lead to bigger and better things for the former Indy star in the coming months.

Cesaro vs. Bryan
Photo courtesy: WWE

The Chamber match should be excellent, considering the amount of talent in there.  I can't tell you how happy I am to see Cesaro as a part of this mix.  I don't have any reason to think he's going to win the gold Sunday night, but I have no doubt that he is going to excel in his first ever Chamber match.  I like the Real Americans gimmick too, but I've always thought Cesaro had that "it" factor to make run on his own.  Even after a stint as U.S. Champion, I think the rub from being in this match will do more for his career.  I'm crossing my fingers.

I think the title match will end with Orton walking out as champion and leading to the much dreaded Batista-Orton title match at Wrestlemania XXX.  But I think something will either happen during the Chamber match or the next night on Raw that will change the complexion of things.  I don't know what it'll be, but I've gotta think the WWE creative doesn't really think that Orton-Batista is "best for business" at this milestone Mania.

I'm looking most forward to The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield.  The WWE has done a great job leading us to this match, which I thought would have made a great Mania match, but reading the online rumors, the company has different plans for each team come Wrestlemania.  All six competitors are very talented and in my opinion are the future of the WWE.  I can see a tag team title reign in the near future for Luke Harper and Erick Rowan as well as individual gold for the Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins.

Speaking of tag teams, I hope the Usos win the belts from the New Age Outlaws.  It's not that I don't enjoy Billy Gunn and The Road Dogg, but I think their time as champs came and went a decade ago.  I'm going out on a limb and assuming they're back for this one last reign and then they'll put over the next team and hopefully help to rebuild the division, which in the last couple of months has been in shambles.

The Prime Time Players splitting up is just one example of that.  I believe Titus O'Neil and Darren Young made a great team.  I enjoyed them even more when Abraham Washington was still around.  I'm not sure who's going to be the "Marty Jannetty" of this team, as I think they both have a ton of potential.  Maybe they'll end up like Christian and Edge and both enjoy singles careers.  I believe on Sunday Young will win the first match against his ex-partner.

Big E Langston will retain the Intercontinental title against Jack Swagger, The Rhodes Brothers should beat Team RybAxel, unless they're leading to some kind of split and a match between Cody and Goldust at Wrestlemania, and Batista will destroy Alberto Del Rio.  

What are your thoughts?  

Logic? Never Heard of It

CM Punk is ready for battle
Photo courtesy: My 1-2-3 Cents

By Chad Smart

@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

I’m going to try and keep this short because once again I’m going to complain about a topic we’ve discussed several times since My 1-2-3 Cents started.  Also, since I’m trying to make 2013 a more positive year, I don’t want to write negative blogs. That said, watching the Rock vs. CM Punk match from Elimination Chamber made me want to bash my head against a wall.

On the last episode of RAW before Elimination Chamber, Paul Heyman got Vince McMahon to agree to the stipulation where if Rock got disqualified the WWE title would be awarded to CM Punk. You’d think Heyman got this stipulation added because he had a master plan to help CM Punk regain the title that had been taken from him unjustly. You’d think that, but you’d be wrong based on the events that happened during the match.

Before the match started, I was fully expecting The Shield or Brad Maddox or maybe even Brock Lesnar to come down and attack Punk thus getting Rock DQ’d and making Punk champion. This would then lead to Vince McMahon or Vickie Guerrero, or Booker T or Teddy Long or maybe Hornswaggle or anyone else on the WWE payroll that can magically restart matches to come out and say Heyman and Punk couldn’t manipulate the system in such a cheap manner. The match would be restarted under protest of Punk and Rock would go on to retain the title. Logical but annoying, no?

Punk goes for the pin
Photo courtesy: WWE

Instead, the ending of the match involved the referee being distracted by Heyman and having Punk throw Rock into the ref knocking the ref to the floor. A second ref comes out to take over officiating the match until he gets his leg clipped putting his out of action and missing a pin count. Finally after a Rock Bottom, the second ref calls into position and makes the count for a Rock victory.  I’m expecting Heyman and Punk to force the original referee to make a delay DQ call tonight on RAW and the events will lead to Punk being added to the Rock/John Cena title match at Wrestlemania. Otherwise the longest reigning WWE champion in the modern era will be going into Wrestlemania in a possible non-meaningful match.

Once in a Lifetime Part Deux
Photo courtesy: WWE

The biggest issue I have with how the match played out is the lack of logic. Go back to the match at the Royal Rumble. The stipulation was in place that if the Shield interfered, CM Punk would be stripped of the title. Even though it would cost him the title, the Shield interfered in the match.  At Elimination Chamber, the Shield could interfere and help Punk regain the title yet they were nowhere to be seen even though they had been victorious in their match less than an hour earlier and would presumably still be in the arena.  Why didn’t they interfere? Why did Heyman have the stipulation added if he wasn’t going to take advantage of said stipulation? 

I’m curious to see what happens on RAW only because I want to know if WWE can possibly make my interest in Wrestlemania any lower than it is right now. Whatever happens, I won’t be expecting it to be logical or enthralling. And I’m definitely not looking to six weeks of Rock/Cena elementary school level insult promos building to their title match.

Rumble Gets Rocked

The Rock is Mania bound
Royal Rumble 2013
Photo courtesy: WWE

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

The 2013 Royal Rumble is in the books. Heads up, this blog is going to be full of anger, snark and stereotypical Internet wrestling fan rage. If you’ve been reading my123cents for the at least two weeks or listened to last week’s From the Rafter’s radio show then you know everything we didn’t want to see happen at the Royal Rumble happened. Before I get into the complaining let me get the positives out of the way.

For the most part there wasn’t anything bad on the show from a pure wrestling standpoint. All the matches were laid out well and the in-ring action was perfectly acceptable. If I weren’t one to think about the outcomes and how it plays into a bigger picture, I wouldn’t have any issues with the show. So at least there’s that. Add in some genuine surprises into the Royal Rumble match (Chris Jericho, Godfather) and I would definitely think the show was worth the $15 I spent on food at Buffalo Wild Wings while watching the show. Unfortunately I look at the bigger picture and that picture resembles that refurbished picture of Jesus the old lady tried to touch up.

Last Man Standing
Del Rio retains
Photo courtesy: WWE

I don’t get why Big Show and Alberto Del Rio had another Last Man Standing match instead of a different gimmick, or straight up match. The match was perfectly fine as long as you overlook the logical gap of every Big Show match in which you wonder why he doesn’t punch his opponents in the face right from the beginning. While the match was fine, I didn’t like the ending. Ricardo Rodriguez duct tapes Big Show’s feet to the bottom rope preventing Show from getting back to his feet before the 10 count is administered. Yes, Big Show didn’t get back to his feet, however he was clearly trying to get up. To me the referee should have realized there was no way for Big Show to stand while his feet were taped and thus remove the tape before making a 10 count. Guessing we’ll get a rematch on RAW or Smackdown and then Big Show will be one of the competitors in the Elimination Chamber match at the next pay per view.

I was surprised to see Team Hell No defeat Team Rhodes Scholars. I don’t know where Kane and Daniel Bryan go from here. The Primetime Players have fallen down to non-serious contenders. The Usos and Primo/Epico haven’t been presented as potential contenders for the past couple of months. Hunico and Camacho’s bicycle must have gotten a flat tire, as they haven’t been seen in some time. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara returned during the Royal Rumble but if the rumors of the two of them squaring off at Wrestlemania are true, then there’s really no reason for them to get a tag-title shot. Maybe Hell No will renew their feud with the Shield. Or maybe we’ll get more Dr. Shelby and wacky skits and hope fans don’t realize the tag titles aren’t being defended.

Y2J Returns
Royal Rumble 2013
Photo courtesy: WWE

The Royal Rumble match was well laid out. As mentioned before, the return of Chris Jericho was a surprise and actually played into a storyline from more than a month ago. I don’t know if Y2J is back or if this was just a one-time event. I hope he’s not back just through Wrestlemania as I don’t like part-time guys taking Wrestlemania slots.

The return of Goldust was a nice surprise and I would really like to see a Goldust vs. Cody Rhodes match at Wrestlemania. Maybe throw in Dusty Rhodes as special guest referee.  For the second year in a row, Kofi Kingston wins the award for most creative way to avoid elimination.

Cena wins
Royal Rumble 2013
Photo courtesy: WWE

As exciting as the Royal Rumble match was, the ending killed not only the match but was the first step in making me dislike the show as a whole. John Cena winning his second Rumble foreshadowed a Rock victory and made me not interested in Wrestlemania 29. Cena is the holder of the “Being John Cena” title, which allows him a title match whenever he wants one. Instead of having Cena win, whoever is going to challenge for the World title should have won the Rumble. Though I suspect that Cena winning the guaranteed title shot at Wrestlemania is a way for WWE to claim last year’s promotion of Rock/Cena as “once in a lifetime” wasn’t a lie. “Cena just happened to win a title show and Rock is champion, it’s not like we set up that way.” 

During the Punk Rock match, I thought they might have Punk retain the title because a Rock victory seemed too obvious. If Punk retained, Rock could still win the title at Elimination Chamber and go on to face Cena at Wrestlemania. Because I had this thought, when Punk pinned Rock, I wasn’t too shocked. However my spirits were deflated and every bad thought I had came to a head once Vince McMahon came out to address CM Punk.

Punk wins...for a minute
Royal Rumble 2013
Photo courtesy: WWE

Due to the lights going out during the match and Rock apparently being attacked, I think maybe he just slipped, Vince claimed The Shield had helped CM Punk and pre-match stipulation declared if this happened Punk would be stripped of the title. The Rock grabbed a mic and said they weren’t going to end that way and demanded the match be restarted. One People’s Elbow later, the Rock ended CM Punk’s 400-day title reign.

This ending was pure dreck on many levels.  First off, Vince had no proof the Shield interfered. Who’s to say Rock didn’t arrange for the lights to be turned off so he could get Punk stripped of the title? Rock beating Punk with one of the weakest wrestling moves in the history of wrestling was also frustrating. Here’s a guy who has been champion for over 400 days, has defeated some of the best wrestlers on the roster and he gets beat after a movie star who’s wrestled two matches in ten years hits him with an elbow drop. Could they have made Punk’s title reign look any more pointless?

Now unless there’s some major shake up at Elimination Chamber, The Rock will defend the WWE title at Wrestlemania against John Cena. I have not heard one person who has said they want to see this rematch. Had I taken a survey at Buffalo Wild Wings, I may have gotten a handful of people who were excited for the match. In my opinion, Rock/Cena was the laziest booking decision that could have been made.

Seventy days until Wrestlemania and I have very little interest in the show. WWE really needs to build a strong undercard to make Wrestlemania 29 not be the weakest show on a weekend full of shows. Right now, I don’t have high hopes.  

Throwback Thursday: New Year's Revolution

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Okay, so this isn't the traditional "Throwback" post as most of them have dated back to the 1980's, but I wanted to talk about a pay per view concept the WWE held eight years ago. It was called New Year's Revolution.  The very first of these short lived pay per views was held a few days after the start of 2005.

Triple H wins
New Year's Revolution 2005
Photo courtesy: WWE

The main event on that show featured an Elimination Chamber match for the vacated World Heavyweight Championship.  Triple H regained the belt that night by defeating Edge, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Batista, and Randy Orton.  Raw GM had previously held the title up after a Triple Threat match between Benoit, Edge, and Trips ended in controversy.

The following year NYR featured another EC main event.  This time it was John Cena prevailing over Shawn Michaels, Carlito, Chris Masters, Kane, and Kurt Angle.  The cool thing about this event was it was the first time we'd ever seen a Money in the Bank briefcase cashed in.  After Cena had won the match, Edge "the Ultimate Opportunist", handed off the briefcase and hit the ring.  A spear and a three count later, and a new champion was crowned.

Edge cashes in
New Year's Revolution 2006
Photo courtesy: WWE

Edge had held on to that briefcase for nearly a year before cashing in that night.  It was brilliant planning and of course because it was the first, I think it's probably my favorite of all the cash ins.  A close second would be Daniel Bryan's moment from 2011.

The final NYR pitted Cena against Umaga in the main event.  Cena won that battle as well.  DX also went after tag team champions Rated RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) that night, but failed to win the gold.

Cena defends against Umaga
New Year's Revolution 2007
Photo courtesy: WWE

The concept of this pay per view only last three years.  Obviously, I don't think it was much of a success or the WWE would continue having them.  I think the problem was pretty clear, the market was (is) saturated with too many wrestling events.  There was a ppv the preceding month, followed by the wildly popular Royal Rumble a couple of short weeks later.  Having that many paid events coupled with Raw and SmackDown was just too much for most wrestling fans.

Just looking back on the event, the highlight was for sure Edge's cashing in MITB and winning his first WWE championship.  That night pretty much clinched it for the Rated R Superstar and sealed his destiny as a WWE Hall of Famer.

The Curious Case of Santino

The Cobra is ready (WWE)

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart on Twitter

After Randy Orton was taken out of the Elimination Chamber Pay Per View with a concussion, Santino Marella won a battle royale to take Orton’s spot in the Chamber match for a shot at the WWE World Title. After word got out about the Smackdown taping results, a lot of WWE fans were upset Santino was inserted into the match feeling Santino is nothing more than a comedy wrestler who doesn’t have the legitimacy required to be taken seriously as a title contender.

While that opinion has some weight, one fact that became obvious during the Elimination Chamber show was the fact Santino was one of the most, if not the most over wrestler on the show. Maybe it was because he was the odd man out in the match and the crowd was looking for anything to cheer on the otherwise mediocre show, but even looking at his time in the Royal Rumble and the reaction he gets during backstage segments on Raw, there is no denying Santino gets a better reaction than some top level talents.

When I heard Santino was going to be in the Elimination Chamber match, I wondered if WWE would have Santino slip into his Boris Alexiev persona from OVW.

While he didn’t go full on back into that identity, Santino did surprise most of the crowd by being the last man eliminated in the match and gave champion Daniel Bryan a scare by taking him to the limit. After watching that clip of Santino/Alexi, I would be more interested in a Daniel Bryan vs. serious Santino match at Wrestlemania instead of the Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus match we’ll get getting.

Bryan vs. Santino (WWE)

The interesting aspect going forward is what will WWE do with Santino after Elimination Chamber. Will they play into his popularity and give him a serious push? Or will they be upset he got himself over when he wasn’t meant to and cut his legs out from under him the way they seem to have done to Zach Ryder?

While they probably won’t do this because they didn’t know what to do with him while he was on the roster, I would suggest WWE get a Best of Colt Cabana DVD to see how a versatile wrestler can do both comedy and serious at the same time. Given how popular Santino is, I would suggest striking while the iron is hot and try to make money off of Santino. Could he be World Champion? Why not? Maybe not tomorrow, but in six months if used properly I honestly believe the WWE Universe would buy into a Milan Miracle title reign.

What do you think? Could you see Santino wearing the 10 pounds of gold? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Royal Rumble: All In

Savage (c) & Hogan in the 89 Rumble (WWE)

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

In the early days of the Royal Rumble pay per view, the world champion was a part of the match too.  At least that was the case in 1989 and 1990 (Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan).  The first world title match was at the 1991 event when the Ultimate Warrior defended against Sgt. Slaughter.  Then in 92 as we've discussed, the title was on the line in the Rumble match.  A year later, the winner of the Royal Rumble became the number one contender to the world title and was given a shot at the belt at Wrestlemania.

It's been that way ever since.  I know with the current stipulation of having the title match as the "prize" for the Rumble, it would make little sense to have the world champions in the battle.  I liked last year how they had Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler both enter the Rumble match after coming up short in their bids for the title earlier in the evening.  Of course in 2011, there were 40 entrants and they needed to come up with something to get that many wrestlers involved.

Elimination Chamber 2011 (WWE)

I liked Chad's suggestion in a post earlier this week of giving the Rumble winner a shot at the Elimination Chamber and making it so they're the last man to enter that match.  With this premise, you could just as easily add the champions into the Rumble match too, so they could compete for the opportunity to have an easier ride at the next PPV.  Not to take anything away from the superstars in the WWE, but adding four more quality stars to the Rumble match (the champions and their challengers) would only strengthen the Rumble match itself.  This year, you'd have five extra guys to throw in, considering Daniel Bryan is defending against the Big Show AND Mark Henry.

Another scenario I've seen pitched online (I think it was former WWE writer Dave Lagana of I Want Wrestling).  Let the winner of the Rumble earn the right to face the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.  I'm not sure if I like that scenario, as I think there are less guys with a legitimate shot of ending the streak as there are winning the world title.  Can you name anyone at this point other than John Cena who could pose a real threat to the streak ending?  Triple H has tried it twice before and will presumably get another shot this year, but that the subject for another blog down the road.

Hogan (c) & Warrior at 90 Rumble (WWE)

I guess the point of this post is to take it back to the old days again.  Throw the champs into the Rumble.  Change the title match stipulation.  It would at least eliminate the predictability of it all and could leave more than three or four options of winners.

Your thoughts are always welcome.  Please post them here or on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

Eliminating Any Surprises



Courtesy: WWE.com

 I didn't get to watch the Elimination Chamber, but my tag team partner Chad did.  Here's a recap of the show from him.  By the way, I was 5 for 5 on my predictions.  But I think Stevie Wonder could have seen the results coming.  I was happy to hear Christian is back.  Should make things interesting on SmackDown!  Now Chad's wrap...

The Elimination Chamber pay per view is in the books. If this show were a WWE wrestler, it would be Randy Orton: bland, boring, and ultimately forgettable. But we now have the two main events set for Wrestlemania … or do we?

In the opening match, Alberto Del Rio marched onward towards Wrestlemania defeating Inter-Continental champion Kofi Kingston in a non-title match. I’m not as sold on Del Rio as most fans seem to be, so I wasn’t too interested in this match. When the match was over I was more interested in seeing Kofi go on to face the World Champion at Wrestlemania than Del Rio. While I think Del Rio may pan out to be a future main event caliber talent, I think rushing him to the main event at the grandest stage of them all will backfire. Especially if he wins the title because where else is there for him to go once he’s reached the top?

I was surprised to see the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match as the second match on the show. I thought they’d hype up Dolph Ziggler’s firing and potential replacement in the EC match. Instead there was no mention of someone taking his place. Teddy Long simply came out and introduced Big Show as now being in the match. Very underwhelming. At the start of the match I commented to my friend I was texting during the show the only logical winners based on the entrants were Edge and Rey Mysterio. When they were the last two men standing, I actually started to think Rey had a chance of winning. After what seemed like a hundred 619s, Edge finally put Rey away to retain his World Title.
After the match, Alberto Del Rio attacked Edge working over Edge’s arm until a returning Christian made the save. I would have rather seen Christian in the actual match, but I think his post match save will somehow lead to either a Edge-Del Rio-Christian 3-way dance at Wrestlemania, or potentially a 4 Way with Rey Mysterio added as well. If the plan is to elevate Del Rio to champion, having him win over three other guys will make the win appear more impressive.

As expected, Corre members Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel regained the tag team titles. Now that they’re champions they can appear on both Raw and Smackdown. I’m guessing there’s some loophole that will allow Wade Barrett and Big Zeke to show up with them. This will (or should) lead to a tag title match at Wrestlemania against two members of the New Nexus.

Jerry "The King" Lawler failed in his attempt to win the WWE Title from The Miz. I actually thought they might do a title switch and then have Miz regain the title on Raw with help from Michael Cole. I was surprised Cole didn’t interfere in the match. No one thought Lawler would go into Wrestlemania as champion so The Miz winning was the right call. The biggest question coming out of this match is how will Jerry Lawler react on Raw to the way Michael Cole berated him on commentary throughout the match.

In the biggest upset in wrestling history, John Cena won the Raw Elimination Chamber match. Wait, did I say upset? I meant, most predictable outcome. The match went the way I expected it to play out. R-Truth and Sheamus were there to fill two spots. John Morrison did some crazy parkur moves. Randy Orton and CM Punk continued their feud while John Cena was put into his seventh consecutive Wrestlemania title match. Eighth if you count his US Title win over Big Show at Wrestlemania XX.

In non-wrestling action, Booker T. introduced Trish Stratus as a trainer on the new season of Tough Enough. Vickie Guerrero came out and pleaded for the WWE Universe to ask Teddy Long to rehire Dolph Ziggler. Teddy came out and said he had rehired someone. That someone turned out to be Kelly Kelly who Vickie had fired a couple weeks ago on Smackdown. I forgot about that when I wrote my piece of firings in wrestling meaning nothing. Kelly tried to attack Vickie but was ambushed by Lay Cool. Trish Stratus returned to save Kelly and to my disliking, a former wrestler was put over at the expense of current talent.

Overall, take away the non-wrestling stuff that should have been saved for Raw or Smackdown and the show was decent. Nothing Earth shattering or must see, but nothing completely offensive. The only major negative was the commentary. Booker T made me miss Matt Striker. The Book man talked too fast and seemed to think he had to carry the conversation even though there were two other guys at the commentary desk with him. Michael Cole outdid himself in topping his previous level of annoyance. The constant bickering with Josh Matthews and Booker while ignoring the action inside the ring ruins any show. I find it hard to believe anyone in upper management within WWE, or even Cole himself can listen to his performance and think it adds anything positive to the show. I guess as long as Cole is "the voice of WWE" it’s something we the fans will just have to deal with unless we make use of the mute button.

With the last stop before Wrestlemania (you know, except for the next six weeks of Raw and Smackdown) in the books here’s what I’m thinking could be on the drawing board for Wrestlemania 27:
The Miz vs. John Cena
Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian
Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater vs. Husky Harris/Michael McGuilicutty
Jerry Lawler vs. some combination of Michael Cole/Alex Riley
Ezekiel Jackson vs. Big Show
The Rock doing an hour of improv comedy.
Now the attention shifts to Raw to see the revelation of the 2-21-11 vignettes and how that will impact Wrestlemania.

You're Fired

Dolph Ziggler at Wrestlemania Axxess in Phoenix

By Chad Smart
On the 600^th episode of Smackdown, we saw Edge get stripped of the World Championship, fired, re-hired and win the World Championship back.  On the other side of the ring, Dolph Ziggler was awarded the title, lost the title and was fired.  This means at the Elimination Chamber pay per view, Edge will be defending the title against four other wrestlers instead of five. Unless, Dolph finds a way to get rehired and finds himself back into the match.

Are we wrestling fans really supposed to believe Dolph is fired from WWE? Once Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long fired Dolph, wouldn’t the anonymous Raw GM computer send Dolph an email and hire him?  Dolph has been on Raw the past couple of weeks, and while his win-loss record wasn’t the greatest, he still showed himself to be a worthy competitor and would make for a good addition to the roster.

Vickie Gurrero at Wrestlemania 26 Axxess

If the Raw computer doesn’t hire Dolph, even with Teddy Long back, doesn’t Dolph’s girlfriend Vickie Guerrero still have some power to reinstate Dolph? If she doesn’t, what will be the point of keeping her around on Smackdown?  Is there some other young wrestler she’s going to hook up with as her new boy toy?

Back to the “firing.”  Even with Dolph taking to Twitter and playing up his firing as legitimate, when was the last time someone got fired in wrestling and was actually, you know, fired? The fired angle has been done so many times in wrestling it’s lost any real meaning.  There are two possible scenarios that could come from this that I wouldn’t mind seeing.

The first would be Dolph coming back wearing a mask.  Dusty Rhodes did this when he became the Midnight Rider. Andre the Giant became the Giant Machine.  Brian Pillman was the Yellow Dog. Even Hulk Hogan used this gimmick as Mr. America.  I’m a sucker for this storyline. But given the creative aspect of today’s wrestling writers, I have doubts it could be built up with any interest. It’d probably last until the next pay per view and then Dolph would be unmasked and shuffled back into the pack like nothing happened.

The other scenario is someone takes Dolph’s place in the Elimination Chamber match.  As of Saturday afternoon, wwe.com is reporting the match will only have five participants, but I can see someone getting added at the last second. Kevin commented on Undertaker being added, but with the build up to his return on 2-21-11, I can’t see him being an unannounced participant. The potential two names I’d like to see are either a returning Christian or Alberto Del Rio.  Christian coming back could add a new dimension to the title match at Wrestlemania. Alberto Del Rio put Christian on the shelf, and Christian and Edge are former tag team champions. I could see either Christian winning or having Edge eliminate him last to retain the title and somehow this leads to a triple threat match at Wrestlemania between Del Rio, Edge and Christian.  I have trouble seeing a straight up one on one match between Del Rio and Edge as being Wrestlemania worthy. 

The other scenario is after beating Kofi Kingston earlier in the night, Del Rio decides he wants to be in the Elimination Chamber so he can win the title and go into Wrestlemania as champion.  Del Rio gets eliminated from the match and loses his guaranteed match at Wrestlemania that leads to either a triple threat or fatal four-way match being set up at Wrestlemania. This is simply fantasy booking based on my opinion Del Rio isn’t ready for a Wrestlemania world title match.

Maybe a collector's item since he's "fired"

So it appears WWE has done a good job of creating interest in what will happen at the pay per view and what will become of Dolph Ziggler. I offer this advice to Dolph; if you want your job back, simply buy a ticket for Smackdown every week and constantly interfere in Edge’s matches. After a few weeks he’ll get fed up and demand Teddy Long reinstate you so he can have another match with you. It was that simple for John Cena to get his job back. It will probably work for you as well. 

Elimination Chamber Predictions

Courtesy: WWE.com

The road to Wrestlemania makes a stop Sunday night for the Elimination Chamber.  But even after the dust settles, we're still six weeks out until the big event.  So anything can happen as they say.

I'm going to attempt to throw out some predictions, but I'm not 100% confident in my choices.  But I'd also be curious to hear what you think.

The Miz (c) vs. Jerry 'the King' Lawler: Rumors are swirling that the King will beat the Miz and lose the belt back to him the next night on Raw.  I really hope that's NOT where we're headed.  The Miz needs to soundly defeat the King and move ahead to focus on Wrestlemania.  Most, if not all of his victories so far have had an asterisk beside them.  His win over Kofi Kingston on SmackDown should be credited to the distraction by Alberto Del Rio.  And speaking of that match, it was the WWE Champion vs. the Intercontinental Champion.  21 years ago such a match headlined Wrestlemania (Hulk Hogan vs. the Ultimate Warrior).  As my friend Chad pointed out, the Kingston-Miz match was merely filler on free TV.  

Anyway, despite the rumors, I predict the Miz gets the win over Lawler in some tainted fashion and we get either King vs. Cole or King vs. Alex Riley at Wrestlemania.  Or maybe both of them in a handicap match.  God help us all.

My Prediction: The Miz

John Morrison vs. CM Punk vs. Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs. Sheamus vs. R Truth: Why, oh why is R Truth in this match?  I'd really like to see John Morrison win, but I know that will not be happening.  They're going to have to go with a proven main eventer for Wrestlemania, since presumably the champion (the Miz) has never main evented the big card.  And since it seems that CM Punk and Randy Orton have unfinished business, I'm picking Super Cena to win this match that he "really needs to win" and go on to Wrestlemania and walk away with the WWE championship again.  *Yawn*

Fantasy booking sidenote:  Just as it appears Cena is going to win, the Rock enters the chamber and delivers the Rock Bottom and allows Morrison or Punk to pin Cena.  

My Prediction: John Cena

Drew McIntyre vs. Wade Barrett vs. Edge (c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. ????:   Since Dolph Ziggler was "fired" from SmackDown! Friday night, the WWE has announced that Edge will only defend against 4 opponents in the Elimination Chamber.  My gut tells me someone else is going to end up inside the cage. Most likely the Big Show, but I've heard other speculation that it will be the Undertaker, to further throw some mystery into the 2/21/11 promos.  I don't like the idea of it being Taker, simply because I don't want him to win the match, and why waste his return on him losing?  Although it would make some sense to bring him in to go after Kane and Wade Barrett, getting a two for one deal.  The more I sit here and write this, the more that starts to make sense.  Ahh, this is making my head hurt.  Must move on...  

Edge has some momentum again after winning the World title again Friday night.  It seems to make the most sense to keep the belt with him, so...

My Prediction: Edge

Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio:  I'm having trouble confirming if this one is for the Intercontinental title or not.  Interesting that they're putting the number one contender for the World title in a match against the IC title.  I'm going to assume the title is NOT on the line, and say it would only be logical for Del Rio to win to continue his momentum into Wrestlemania.  Having him lose to Kofi wouldn't be a bad thing necessarily, but Kofi has been so misused by the company.  That's a story for another day.  Like the Miz, Del Rio needs a few victories over some of the upper card guys to prove that he deserves to be in the World title match at the biggest PPV of the year.  He's told us time and time again, now he needs to prove it in the ring.  And I know he's already beaten Kofi, so why pay to watch them wrestle, right?

My Prediction: Alberto Del Rio

Santino Marella & Vladamir Koslov (c) vs. Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel: This seems like a last minute, oh we need another match on the pay per view, type of match.  I've complained time and time again about the state of tag team wrestling, so you don't want to hear that again.  We've seen these two teams go at it several times before.  I'm predicting the Corre wins the tag team titles to set up a tag team title match against two members of the Nexus at Mania.

My Prediction: Slater & Gabriel

As of Saturday afternoon at 3:40 CST, that's all the WWE has announced for matches.  Just 5.  I guess that's enough.  Wouldn't be surprised to see some type of Divas match thrown in too.  Based on SmackDown, I'm guessing Layla vs. Eve.  Eve goes over.

What are your 1-2-3 Cents?  Comment and don't forget to subscribe to My 1-2-3 Cents on YouTube.