No Way Out of Seattle

The Road to WrestleMania continues with my favorite secondary show of the year....

I admit, the Rumble was a bit of a disappointment this year (full review on the way, promise!) but it was probably a huge boon to Orton to get the win as a heel. I have less of an idea where they're going with WrestleMania than I did at this point last year, so I'd say the chances of a surprise or two tonight would be fairly high. And really, although they've yet to have the genre-defining match, are you actually going to pass up a pay per view with TWO Chamber matches?

Onto the picks....

WCW Championship Elimination Chamber Match
KOFI KINGSTON! MIKE KNOX! FOREGONE CONCLUSIONS! FEEL THE EXCITEMENT!

Hey, we know the winner, but the chamber matches are reliably decent, and maybe these guys will be a good mix for it.

Winner: John Cena
My Pick: John Cena

ECW Championship
Finlay vs. Jack Swagger (c)
Speaking of things that are underwhelming, hows about Christian's big return this week, on a show that very few people watch, on a network that very few people watch? It's pretty clear that the 'net reports were true - he was Plan A for the Jeff Hardy feud, but they wanted to SwErVE ThE FAnZ! and as a result, we get Christian shoehorned into a "#1 ECW babyface" spot that doesn't entirely suit him. I expect him to be involved somehow in this one, but I doubt our beloved Belfast Bruiser gets the strap.

Winner: Jack Swagger
My Pick: Finlay, of course

Final All Or Nothing Showdown Match (aka Plan B After Cena Retained At The Rumble)
Shawn Michaels vs. JBL
Here's an idea that I didn't like at first but have been warming to since: JBL in the Money in the Bank match. My favorite edition of that match was the one at WM22 that included Finlay - at first it didn't seem that he would fit the uptempo style, but it ended up contrasting wonderfully with everyone else. Mark him down, as far as I'm concerned.

Winner: Shawn Michaels, moving on to the Taker at Wrestlemania
My Pick: Shawn, and the immediate resumption of JBL's announcing career after Wrestlemania.

No Holds Barred Match
Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton
Get ready for some stunts so wild, so crazy, and so breathtaking that no regular WWF performer working on a downside guarantee without health insurance would dare attempt them!

Winner: Randy Orton
My Pick: Well, Orton winning is obviously the only correct move here. Regardless, I'm pulling for Shane-O-Mac to at least bust out a few amazing stuntman spots. I'm really not quite sure where they're going with this for Wrestlemania, which is a good thing.

WWF Championship Elimination Chamber Match
Two Chamber matches, both for titles....one of them's probably changing hands, and I can't see anybody walking out of the first match but Cena. Then again, would they really go INTO 'Mania with two babyface champs?

Winner: Triple H, probably moving onto a match with Orton at Wrestlemania or something
My Pick: Vladimir Kozlov

Ha! Just kidding. I'm pulling for Edge to retain, or for the very fat chance of a very fat Big Show winning the belt. I'll also be fine, if slightly perplexed, with Hardy getting it back. Not sure how they build to Matt vs. Jeff when Matt is barred from entering the match my a few tons of steel. Maybe a backstage attack?

Recommendation: Come on now.

I don't recommend B-show PPVs lightly, but this one is essential almost every year. You get an ECW title match, a Shane-O Spotfest Spectacle, the HBK-JBL blowoff (fingers crossed), and TWO ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCHES FOR THE TWO WORLD TITLES, as well as a likely surprise on the level of Mayweather's showdown with the Big Show last year.

My bet? Stone Cold challenging Jericho for a match at Mania. At the end of the night, we should have a much better idea of the card for the Granddaddy Of 'Em All. Buy it, stream it, beg, borrow, steal, I don't care, just make sure you're watching tonight.
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