Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Dallas Allsopp, Bodeen Green and Ben Guest will be previewing the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

The final stop on the road to WrestleMania 36 takes place this Sunday, with Elimination Chamber proving to be the last opportunity for wrestlers to stake a claim for a strong match at the grandaddy of them all. It is intriguing that neither of the world titles will be defended, and it is even stranger that neither elimination chamber match will crown a number 1 contender to either of these championships. But will the show be worth watching? Will Shayna Baszler dominate? And will John Morrison continue his fairytale return to WWE in style?


ALLSOPP: Surely this is Shayna Baszler's match to lose. She is an absolute machine, and she brings a certain level of legitimacy that has been missing since Ronda Rousey left a year ago. She is the favourite because her storyline with Becky Lynch writes itself, especially due to the cowardly actions of Lynch from Survivor Series. I'd bet everything on Baszler winning this match.

GREEN: I'd say that Shayna Baszler winning the women's elimination chamber is certainty, but considering what happened at Super Showdown, I'm not sure what to believe anymore. It would not make any sense for WWE to build this rivalry between Becky Lynch and Baszler, only to have someone else win. It would also not make sense for anyone else to win as they have already been beaten by Lynch, or they are already in different feuds. For me, the only question is how Baszler is winning, and will Lynch get involved in the match.

GUEST: I think Shayna Baszler is the only person that makes sense to win. I think they will set up Liv Morgan vs Ruby Riott using the chamber, but Baszler is a sure fire winner, and I even think she wins the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 36. It's been coming for a while now.


GREEN: As much as I love some of the people in this match, I feel like this match is a complete mistake. We already have a women's elimination chamber match, as well as a men's elimination chamber match that's yet to be confirmed. Having three gimmick matches in one night with very little build for each of them hurts the stipulation, which makes it feel less dramatic and meaningful. As for who's winning the match, I feel it's going to depend on what WWE want to do at WrestleMania 36. If they want a multi-team match like they usually do, then I'd say The Miz and John Morrison are retaining, but if WWE want to take a different approach, then I'd say The Usos might win to set up yet another clash with The New Day.

GUEST: I've got no idea where they're going with this match. Having a multi-team match this close to WrestleMania 36 isn't how I would book things, and I can't see what direction they're heading in. I'm not even sure they know where they're going. I don't see The Miz and John Morrison dropping the belts so soon after winning them, but if they do, The Usos haven't held the belts for a while, so I'll go with them to win it either here or at WrestleMania 36.

ALLSOPP: I don't expect them to drop the belts, purely because they have just won them. John Morrison has been unstoppable since his return, with The Miz looking revitalised as a heel. Therefore, it would make no sense for them to lose at Elimination Chamber, but all logic has been thrown out of the window on the road to WrestleMania 36.


GUEST: Maybe we should just say Super Showdown never happened and Goldberg never won the belt. In all seriousness, one pay-per-view per month is fine, but it's just hard to fit in two shows between the end of January and the beginning of April. I think it would work better if they had 3 weeks between each of the shows between Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 36, but hey, they've done worse than have 2 pay-per-views in 2 weeks *cough* like giving Goldberg the belt just before WrestleMania *cough* twice *cough*.

ALLSOPP: The current pay-per-view schedule is awful, however with AEW posing a genuine threat to WWE, this will not change anytime soon. The Saudi Arabia shows are an exercise in failure, as they provide no real entertainment for fans. The slow burn storylines heading into WrestleMania are a relic of the past, which is a real shame. Triple H vs Shawn Michaels vs Chris Benoit at WrestleMania 20 benefitted from a well built storyline, but this is just not possible in the current WWE landscape. WWE needs to address the congested pay-per-view schedule, but this will never happen whilst Vince McMahon continues to make a tidy profit.

GREEN: The shows in Saudi Arabia are hurting the WWE product in a bad way. The constant need to build big matches for these shows in Saudi Arabia has led to a jumbled mess of storylines. The constant pay-per-views have also led to a lot of them feeling meaningless and pointless. All you have to do is compare NXT TakeOver events to main roster pay-per-views to see the difference. This lack of build also hurts the elimination chamber gimmick, as instead of being this match where careers are altered, it just feels like a random match thrown together by WWE with little meaning.