7 things WWE subtly told us at Elimination Chamber 2020: New champion to turn face, Major winner at WrestleMania 36 revealed?

Elimination Chamber 2020 marked the final PPV stop on the road to WrestleMania. From here on, it's going to be four more weeks of programming before the grandest stage of them all and it appears as though the road to WrestleMania is winding down quickly.

As expected, Elimination Chamber saw a few superstars cement their spot at WrestleMania 36 while a major title change hinted at a new direction for the grandest stage of them all. The direction for a few rivalries has also been made clear and we'll be discussing all things Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 36.

Since the PPV had direct consequences, there were high expectations. While it wasn't the best PPV, many aspects of it delivered. Let's jump right into the things that WWE subtly told us.

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#7. First singles title on the main roster and WrestleMania direction

Sami Zayn's face says it all

Sami Zayn won his first Championship in 1,853 days - over 5 years. The last time he did so, it was the NXT Championship and the circumstances were completely different. In that case, he had a tailor-made story for him culminating in a big babyface win.

The story hasn't been the same on the main roster but four years into his main RAW debut, he finally won his first title on main. The 3-on-1 handicap stipulation seemed as though it was meant to protect Braun Strowman when he lost the title and we were taken by surprise when Sami Zayn ended up pinning him instead.

With Zayn winning the title, it means that we could see a Fatal-4-Way at WrestleMania 36 where he defends the Intercontinental Championship against Braun Strowman, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Cesaro.

However, we anticipate a major face turn from him before that as he transitions out of his managerial role. That appears to be the right direction to go now.

#6. The meaning of Shayna Baszler's dominance

Dominance

Shayna Baszler had one of the most dominant performances in Elimination Chamber history - eliminating all five other superstars in the ring to cement her place at WrestleMania 36. From her RAW debut where she bit Becky Lynch, the outcome of the match always seemed to be obvious.

That was one of the problems they had going for it and this wasn't the best WWE had done at executing a dominant performance. Baszler came out and immediately destroyed her opponents, submitting Sarah Logan first before going after Ruby Riott and then Natalya.

The problem with the match was that Baszler's eliminations came in such quick succession that she seemed to spend most of the match sitting idly, waiting for a pod to open, or she was busy looking at Asuka and talking trash.

Liv Morgan had a decent showing but was ultimately locked in Baszler's clutch and passed out before tapping. Asuka was the last person that Baszler had to go through and she had the best showing - albeit a very short one.

This makes it clear that Baszler will walk out of WrestleMania 36 as the RAW Women's Champion.

#5. No punishment for Andrade

He's back!

This might be the best way WWE has handled a suspended superstar in recent times. While being the United States Champion, Andrade was suspended shortly after the Royal Rumble 2020, being written out by a DDT to the concrete floor.

It was a bit surprising that they chose to have the United States Championship absent from TV for a full month rather than take the title off Andrade. He was feuding with Humberto Carrillo before suspension as well and they chose to pick up where they left off.

Zelina Vega was the manager of the debuting Angel Garza in the meantime and as it turns out, that had nothing to do with her role with Andrade. She was ringside as Andrade defeated Carrillo to retain the United States Championship.

We commend WWE on the decision of sticking with Andrade. Going with Carrillo would be the obvious choice but this proves that Andrade is on Paul Heyman's "list" of superstars who he wants to push.

It's good that WWE decided not to go with Carrillo.

#4. Have two major WrestleMania matches been revealed via the first Elimination Chamber bout?

A great match

The Elimination Chamber Tag Team match delivered in a big way. Only the third of its kind and the first men's tag team Elimination Chamber match in nearly five years, the six teams of SmackDown stepped up in a big way.

Heavy Machinery were the stars of the match and Otis, in particular, was the most over star inside the ring and he made history inside the Chamber in his own way, becoming the first person to ever go through a pod and exit the ring.

Unfortunately, that maneuver cost his team the match as a furious Tucker was outnumbered and hit with a superkick and Glorious DDT before being pinned. Dolph Ziggler vs Otis seems to be one of the directions for WrestleMania 36.

As for the outcome of the match, the Champions The Miz & Morrison retained at the end, outlasting The New Day and The Usos to win the match. While these three teams seem to be a lock for a WrestleMania Tag Team title match, we could see Lucha House Party enter the mix after their great performance.

#3. The AJ Styles rumors are true

Aleister Black beat AJ Styles

We're not talking about the rumors about AJ Styles facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36. That was all but confirmed at WWE Super ShowDown when they had a brief interaction in the gauntlet match.

We're talking about the rumors about how Vince McMahon won't let AJ Styles lose clean to anyone except The Undertaker. Dave Meltzer said:

Vince isn't going to let Aleister Black, I don't think Vince will let Aleister Black beat AJ clean right now.

It's clear how much Vince McMahon values AJ Styles - otherwise, he wouldn't be getting The Undertaker match at WrestleMania 36. With that said, we thought the AJ Styles-Aleister Black match was great and the two had good chemistry in the ring.

Black going over was the right decision and having The Undertaker assist him wasn't the worst call. Ultimately, Black still gets his push while WWE can get to AJ Styles vs The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36.

That's going to be The Undertaker's most interesting WrestleMania match in recent years.

#2. Drew Gulak could have big things waiting

An in-ring masterclass opened the show at Elimination Chamber

We mentioned last night in the Preview that the Daniel Bryan-Drew Gulak match holds no actual importance, but it could be a show-stealer. In a great decision by WWE, the two in-ring technicians opened the show and had one of, if not the best match of the night.

It was the perfect contest to kick things off and Daniel Bryan did a huge favor to Drew Gulak by pushing to get him on-screen and have a feud with him. Even though the result was obvious, Gulak looked great in defeat and Bryan gave him a nod of acknowledgment at the end.

This could be a big way to get Drew Gulak on-screen regularly. He's a great all-round superstar with a solid, entertaining heel character and fantastic in-ring ability. He's the kind of superstar who fans like seeing more on TV and we won't be surprised to see a change in direction for him or regular TV appearances on SmackDown.

#1. Seth Rollins' WrestleMania fate

The inevitable?

This feels like the least important position Seth Rollins has been in heading into WrestleMania in a few years now. In the last few years, he had prominent roles at the show of shows, facing Randy Orton, winning the WWE World title that same night, beating Triple H two years later, winning the Intercontinental Championship a year after, and beating Brock Lesnar to become the Universal Champion last year.

He had a brief run as RAW Tag Team Champion again, this time with Buddy Murphy as his partner. They faced The Street Profits in a rematch from the last episode of RAW and once again, there was chaos at ringside when Kevin Owens walked in with a bag of popcorn.

Things went wild and in the end, The Street Profits once again got the big win over Rollins & Murphy. After the match, Rollins furiously asked Murphy where he was and was made to turn around before eating a stunner from Kevin Owens.

It seems clear that Owens vs Rollins will be the match at WrestleMania 36 in a payoff to the entire storyline.