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The road to WrestleMania takes one last halt at Elimination Chamber. The Las Vegas PPV is going to showcase the final seeds planted for WrestleMania on the red brand. Fans will get to witness the first-ever Women's Elimination Chamber match, the first-ever seven-man Elimination Chamber match, Ronda Rousey's WWE RAW contract signing and more.
However, if the last few years have shown anything, the build-up to WrestleMania can be stale or underwhelming. There has been criticism that Elimination Chamber is going to be a predictable PPV. Either way, these are the things WWE should avoid to prevent leaving a sour taste in the fans' mouths:
#5 Braun Strowman getting pinned clean by Roman Reigns
It's fairly obvious that Braun Strowman isn't going to be the winner of the chamber match, though it's undoubtedly going to be fun to watch the Monster Among Men wreck havoc inside the steel structure.
It's inevitable that Strowman gets pinned, but WWE has to be careful about how they do it. Having Roman Reigns pin him clean with an underwhelming spear will do no favours to either superstar. Instead, a better way to have Strowman pinned is to have all(or remaining) superstars hit their finishers on him before piling on to pin him.
A good contender to pin him could be The Miz since he's rumoured to be defending the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania against Braun Strowman.
#4 Ronda Rousey going after the Elimination Chamber winner
Ronda Rousey is set to sign her RAW contract at Elimination Chamber, and the likely direction is for her to have an altercation with Stephanie McMahon. The rumoured direction is for her to be taking on Stephanie McMahon and Triple H with a male partner at WrestleMania.
At the moment, Seth Rollins seems to be one of the names floating around as an option for her partner, especially since his original plans with Dean Ambrose and subsequently Jason Jordan have fallen out due to their injuries. Though Rollins seems to be the most likely candidate, another rumour suggested that he could be pit up against Kurt Angle.
If her contract signing is a generic segment, there's a good chance she could have some involvement in the post-Chamber match of the women. Rousey should not be competing for the title at WrestleMania. She's a special attraction, so of course, it would bring attention if she were competing for the title at the Grandest Stage Of Them All, but there are other women on the roster more deserving of the opportunity.
Asuka vs Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss vs Nia Jax and Bayley vs Sasha Banks should be the directions for WrestleMania instead.
#3 The Bar retaining the RAW Tag team titles
While this one may seem controversial to some, hear me out. The Bar is an amazing, high-level tag team who belong on the top of the division. However, they've dominated the tag title scene since they became a team. If you think about it, they've essentially competed for the tag titles in all but one RAW PPV and one Big-4 PPV over the course of 2017.
A title change to their opponents, Titus Worldwide, would not only come as a big surprise, but it would be something fresh. People complain about unpredictability, but how often do we see surprise title changes of such?
Not to mention, it would help Apollo's momentum tremendously as he slowly builds towards an eventual singles career and hopefully a career resurgence.
#2 Nia Jax defeating Asuka
Nia Jax has been built up as Asuka's biggest threat by far on the main roster. Asuka is the winner of the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble match, so she has a guaranteed title shot at WrestleMania regardless.
As for Nia Jax, if she beats Asuka, she enters Asuka's selected title match at WrestleMania, making it a triple threat. She also ends Asuka's prestigious two-plus year undefeated streak.
WWE has really built up Asuka, with her being the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble winner. It's unlikely WWE would have given her the push if they didn't have bigger plans for her. Plus, why would WWE end her streak on a B-PPV?
That's exactly what was asked about Charlotte Flair's PPV undefeated streak, and it was ended abruptly at Fastlane 2017, infuriating many fans. Hopefully, WWE learns from this mistakes and protects The Empress Of Tomorrow, keeping her streak alive. In fact, a win over Nia would build her credibility even more.
Asuka was successful against Nia Jax on two occasions, successfully defending the NXT Women's Championship against her.
#1 The Undertaker returning
You read that right. Just a few years ago, the very idea that people would dread The Deadman's return would shock people. However, Undertaker's run in 2017 from Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 33 confirmed that the Undertaker truly had overstayed his welcome as an in-ring competitor.
This isn't a criticism against Undertaker by any means. He's arguably the greatest superstar in WWE history and is beloved, respected and highly regarded by fans and peers alike. His contribution to the business can't be understated, and while it's commendable that he can perform even into his 50s, he showed that he just can't keep up anymore.
In addition, his match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania seemed like a confirmed farewell and the end of his storeyed career, with his loss and the ending of WrestleMania, where he left his hat and gloves in the middle of the ring, breaking character on-screen for the first time in his 26-year WWE career.
If he were to return for a match with Cena, it would ruin the purpose of his entire program with Roman Reigns. It's a safe bet that if it were to happen, the Cena match would be his true swan song, and if he were to undergo a loss again, it would ruin his aura and legacy in a big way.
The Undertaker vs John Cena WrestleMania match was supposed to take place at WrestleMania 32 until Cena got injured. Unfortunately, the time has long passed for a match against Cena, and it won't have the same aura that it could have once had.
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