The Road to Wrestlemania is well and truly underway, and this Sunday night, Raw will take its last big stop on the road to New Orleans. Monday nights have been highly entertaining as of late, and there is little doubt the brand will produce an excellent show on Sunday.
With the show featuring not one, but two elimination chamber matches, the company will no doubt use this as an opportunity to establish several key matches for this year’s Wrestlemania. With rumours of Mania dominating the headlines at the moment, let’s take a look at what wheels the company should set in motion for Wrestlemania 34 at Elimination Chamber.
Sasha Banks Vs Bayley
Sasha Banks has been on fire recently. After a lackluster run in 2017, Banks has hit the ground running in 2018 following her iron-women performance in the Royal Rumble. Banks followed up her Rumble performance with an impressive display against Asuka and the company would be crazy not to have her feature on the Wrestlemania card.
Banks has begun to show heelish tendencies over the last few weeks, and the company should pull the trigger on that this Sunday night. After being eliminated by Sasha at the Rumble, Bayley should eliminate Sasha inside the Chamber, only to have Sasha come back and attack her friend, leading to her elimination.
Fans have been wanting to see Bayley and Sasha go at it on PPV since both women have been on the roster, and Wrestlemania 34, with the Women’s division stronger than it has ever been, is the perfect opportunity for that.
Finn Balor Vs Seth Rollins
When it comes to Wrestlemania 34, Seth Rollins has not had much luck so far. The former WWE champion was originally rumoured to face Dean Ambrose on the Grandest Stage of Them All, but his Shield teammate picked up an injury ruling him out of the event. The WWE sought to remedy this, by replacing Dean Ambrose with Jason Jordan. Jordan himself then went and picked up a serious injury, leaving Rollins without a dancing partner in New Orleans.
Reports have been flying around in recent weeks that Kurt Angle is now the man being lined up to face Seth at Mania. This would be a great little push for Seth, considering his insanely brilliant performance on Raw this past week, but it seems as though it would be a risk to have Angle competing in such a competitive bout, instead I suspect he will be tied up elsewhere (I’ll come to that.)
That leaves Seth with very few options.There is one option for Seth that hasn’t been discussed though- a match with Finn Balor. Balor has been slowly picking up momentum over the past few weeks and the fact that he and Seth shared a pinfall a few weeks ago does mean that they have something to build on at Elimination Chamber.
Having the two men recreate that spot in the Chamber, and then one of them eliminate the other, or perhaps even pull off a double elimination, could set up a nice little match between the two at Mania. Neither man would have to turn heel as it could be a feud built out of sheer one-upmanship. Both men need a Mania worthy match, and executed right, this could be one of the best matches on the card on April 8th.
Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey Vs Stephanie McMahon and Triple H
You’d have thought by now that the WWE would have learned that contract signings on television never end well. The announced contract signing of Ronda Rousey at Elimination Chamber has chaos written all over it, and who is likely to be sharing the ring with Rousey on the night? Raw’s three main authority figures.
It looks as though Rousey will be facing Triple H and Stephanie at Mania, so the only real question is, who is going to be her partner? Having this contract signing descend into a full-blown brawl between the four people in the ring seems the most logical outcome on Sunday night, the only real question, is how do we get to that point?
Stephanie could take a swipe at Rousey, leading to Angle coming in to defend her and then Trips getting involved, or Trips could take a shot at Angle, which, given their history, would also make a whole lot of sense. Either way, pencil this one in for Wrestlemania.
The Miz Vs Braun Strowman
Talking of potential partners for Rousey, one of the other names that keeps coming up in discussions is Braun Strowman. The Monster Among Men has no clear feud heading into Wrestlemania and many suspect that he may be teaming with the former UFC star.
The Miz is also without a clear feud, though, and a feud between The Miz and Braun could be great. Braun is super over now, and The Miz is one of the best mic-workers in the business. These two men going at it each week is something many fans would love to see, and Braun would no doubt pull off some hilarious stunts along the way. It’s about time Braun tasted some gold, and with the Universal Title currently tied up with other people, the Intercontinental Title could be just what the doctor ordered for the former Rosebud.
Alexa Bliss Vs Nia Jax
If rumours are to be believed, then Asuka should be jumping ship to Smackdown to feud with Charlotte Flair in the coming weeks, and Nia Jax should be challenging Alexa Bliss on Raw. If that is the case, the company need to make Nia the number 1 contender this Sunday night.
Now, the chances of Nia defeating Asuka are slim to none, but that isn’t to say the company wouldn’t opt for a false finish to keep Nia looking strong. If she were to win by DQ, or the two women were to come to a no-decision, Nia would have a perfectly legitimate reason for challenging Bliss at Mania.
Alternatively, because of the men’s chamber now having an extra pod, that means that one will be empty in the women’s match, which means Nia could easily force herself into the match and get screwed by Alexa in the dying moments. Nia has become one of the most popular stars on the Raw’s women’s division and a big match at Mania would be the perfect way for her to pick up her first title in the WWE.
Brock Lesnar Vs Roman Reigns
I really didn’t need to put this one on here, did I? Reigns Vs Lesnar has been penciled in from the moment The Undertaker left the ring at Wrestlemania 33, and the company’s booking of the match has been ridiculously transparent.
That being said, Reigns is an excellent in-ring performer and while the match is likely going to be greeted with a chorus of boos, it will still probably be a great main event. Reigns is going to win the chamber on Sunday, whether we like it or not, the only real question, is how he will be booked to do it.
The spear has been heavily protected over the last few months, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him eliminate a fair few of his competitors on the way to victory Sunday night.