The last stop before WrestleMania 39 is the Elimination Chamber, and the main event will be under a huge spotlight Saturday night.
Sami Zayn will challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship in his home province in Quebec. The Montreal fans traditionally have given Zayn the best reactions out of anyone in the company, and they should be even more electrified with the “Honourary Hab” getting the biggest shot of his WWE career.
Austin Theory will defend the United States Championship in the men’s Elimination Chamber match, Edge and Beth Phoenix will team up against The Judgment Day’s Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley, and Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar will continue their feud in a singles match.
NESN.com’s Jason Ounpraseuth and Ricky Doyle offered their predictions for what’ll materialize this Saturday at Bell Centre.
Jason: Sami Zayn will fall short against Roman Reigns
WWE has put itself in an odd position. Zayn is the hottest babyface in the company, and right next to him is the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble winner, Cody Rhodes, who delivered an excellent promo on this week’s RAW to help build the stakes for Saturday’s match and WrestleMania 39. A match between Rhodes and Zayn would be better from an in-ring perspective, but WWE likely wants to make a big splash in Inglewood, Calif., so Reigns is the bigger star more befitting to take on Rhodes.
Don’t be surprised if Kevin Owens comes out to save Zayn in a potential post-match beatdown at the hands of The Bloodline. This, of course, would mirror Zayn saving his best friend at the Royal Rumble. And it would plant the seeds for a tag team title match against The Usos, which, while a big match, is not the main event of WrestleMania that would be more fulfilling for Zayn.
Ricky: Montez Ford wins the United States Championship Elimination Chamber match
Initially leaned toward Seth Rollins, to raise the stakes for his inevitable WrestleMania match with Logan Paul. Or Austin Theory theoretically (pun intended) could retain the belt to set up an open challenge answered by John Cena, a ‘Mania match WWE has subtly teased for months.
Instead, let’s roll with Ford, whose inclusion in the Chamber match as a singles competitor is an interesting wrinkle. Ford, one half of the Street Profits tag team, has the athletic ability and the charisma to be a meaningful player toward the top of the card. Now would be a good time to jumpstart the solo push, so long as WWE capitalizes on the victory by having Ford turn on his partner, Angelo Dawkins, as early as Monday night. That would create some real heel heat right off the bat.
Jason: Gunther challenges the winner of Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar
Saturday likely is the blow-off match between the two former WWE champions, Lashley and Lesnar. One of them needs a big match for WrestleMania in April, and a match for the Intercontinental Championship would fit that bill. Gunther works better with smaller wrestlers because that helps accentuate his larger stature and power in the ring.
But WWE is the “land of the giants,” and it likely wants a bigger spectacle with Gunther facing off against the company’s top heavyweight wrestlers. The choice for a bigger match would be Lesnar, but considering how hard Gunther’s strikes are in the ring, especially his knife-edge chops, it wouldn’t be surprising if he wanted to pass on the match.
Ricky: Asuka wins the women’s Elimination Chamber match
This feels kinda obvious. But none of the other participants — Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan, Nikki Cross, Natalya or Carmella — has the type of momentum Asuka has right now. Thus, the Empress of Tomorrow will reign supreme Saturday, setting up a RAW women’s title match with Bianca Belair at WrestleMania.
One wild card to keep in the back of your mind, as it relates to the women’s division: Will Trish Stratus show up in some capacity to build toward a ‘Mania match? After all, she’s Canadian, so the Montreal crowd would go insane. But the more likely move feels like WWE saving that return for Monday night in her hometown province of Ontario.
