Can They Be Champ? 02.17.08: Elimination Chamber Participants

Posted by Mike Minotti on 02.17.2008

411's Mike Minotti looks at all twelve of the participants in No Way Out's two Elimination Chamber matches. He looks into their futures, and evaluates their chances of one day becoming a world champion.

Well, it's another PPV day. No Way Out. Elimination chambers, title matches, career threatening matches (well, match), and a women's title match. Wait, there isn't one of those, is there? Actually, there hasn't been a women's match on PPV for a few months, let alone a Women's Championship match. Looks like they've become pretty apathetic towards the whole division. The only storyline that gets any time on TV is the Maria/Playboy one. It could be worst. The division does still exist, unlike the dead Cruiserweight Division. I wonder if we'll ever see that belt come back.

I have to say, I'm pretty excited for this PPV. I know some people feel like their stretching the elimination chamber too thin, but considering we haven't had one since December to Dismember (and we haven't had a decent one since before that), I'm ok with it.

The more interesting question mark is what they are they going to do with the Mysterio/Edge match now that Rey is injured. I know he doesn't have a whole lot of fans here, but you have to feel sorry for him. This will be two WrestleManias that Rey will miss in a row. That sucks. The WWE website seems to be teasing that Rey will still fight at No Way Out, but I don't see how he will with a bicep injury, unless it's not as bad as we're been lead to believe.

Today's Can They Be Champ? is going to follow the old-school format. I'm going to go through every Elimination Chamber participant, and talk about they're chances of one day becoming a World Champion. Just to be clear, I mean either the WWE or World Heavyweight championship. Also, I'm assuming that each wrestler will be staying on their brand. Obviously, if HBK suddenly went to Smackdown, his world title chances would improve.

That gives me twelve men to talk about, so I better get to it.

But first, podcast plug!

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Let's talk about the Raw guys first.

Can HHH be champ?

I think this is a pretty safe bet. HHH is still in good shape, and he's still one of the WWE's top guys. He's going to have more title matches coming his way, and a few more title wins. That said, HHH has not been dominating the title scene as much as he once did. There was about two and a half years between his tenth and eleventh title reign (between him losing the WHC to Batista at WM21 and then winning the WWE title at No Mercy 2007), and even then his eleventh reign didn't last longer than the PPV on which he won it. Now, during that time HHH was busy with the DX reunion, as well as injured for several months. Still, it seems like he has stepped aside recently to allow guys like Cena, Edge and Orton time with the belt.

Still, a new HHH title reign seems imminent. He's still my pick to win the elimination chamber, setting up Cena vs. HHH at WM24. Now, I'm really not sure yet who will win that match, but HHH winning it does not seem like an entirely ridiculous scenario.

So, can he be champ?

HHH probably has at least a few more title runs in him. I'm expecting one to start sooner rather than later.

Can Shawn Michaels be champ?

HBK had two feuds for the WWE title in 2007. The first was with Cena earlier in the year, and the latter was with Orton later in the year. Both of those feuds produced some great matches, but we never saw Shawn win the belt. He hasn't won a world title since he was victorious in the first elimination chamber back during Survivor Series 2002. Since then he's been pretty content to help put other stars over, and just having great matches. Just look at his recent Raw match with Jeff Hardy. Great match, didn't win.

Will he ever get his hands on a world title again? I'd love to think so, but the title scene is so crowded on Raw, it doesn't seem likely unless we have another bizarre round of mass injuries (god forbid). HBK is still a great man to feud with anyone who is holding onto the belt, especially for a heel champion. Hopefully HBK will get one more title run before he retires from ring action (who knows when that will be).

So, can he be champ?

It hasn't happened lately, and it doesn't seem likely to happen anytime too soon. Still, when you're as awesome as HBK, who needs titles?

Can JBL be champ?

He may have worked as a champion on Smackdown (well, some will tell you it didn't work well at all), but it's hard seeing JBL as a world champion on Raw. Like I said, it's already a crowded title picture. Now, JBL does have heat on him, but not as much as Orton, who is a more consistent worker. JBL seems like he's going to be one of those stop-gap heels for face champions to wrestle when they're in between feuds.

Now, JBL is said to be good friends with Vince, which increase his chances somewhat. Still, I think Vince would rather invest championships on younger talent.

So, can he be champ?

JBL had his day. He should be pretty happy he got to be champion for as long as he did, as well as main event a WrestleMania.

Can Chris Jericho be champ?

It's a shame that Jericho's actual return isn't as good as the build up to his return. But that's what happens when you immediately have him lose a title match, and then feud with a guy like JBL. Come on, I want to see Jericho wrestle guys like Michaels, Hardy, Kennedy, and Cena. I don't want him to brawl with big, tubby guys. His match against Orton was good at Armageddon, before it was ended prematurely. Where was the payoff on that feud?

As it stands, it doesn't seem like Jericho is ready to be champion again. Those hoping he would come back and immediately be a top dog were left a bit disappointed. He needs at least a year to establish himself. If he has some good feuds that the crowds really get into, then he has a chance. But, again, it's a very crowded title picture on Raw.

So, can he be champ?

Not anytime immediately, but if the right cards fall into place, another Jericho title reign wouldn't be impossible.

Can Umaga be champ?

I've given Umaga this treatment before, so I'll try to be brief. Umaga is a jobber to the stars, who will be fed mid-carders and curtain jerkers every once in awhile to rebuild his monster status (jeez, maybe I rely on wrestling jargon a bit much). I'm not saying he's a bad wrestler, he's really much better than he has any right being, but he's hardly champion material. As much as people like his feud with Cena, we haven't seen him have a real shot at a world title since then.

So, can he be champ?

No, not in his current jobber-ific state.

Can Jeff Hardy be champ?

Oh good, I didn't forget about Jeff Hardy this week.

Jeff's been hot for awhile now. Some people felt that his push to the top was over when he lost at the Royal Rumble, but he's doing just fine, especially after beating HBK clean on Raw. I bet the crowd at No Way Out will probably favor Jeff. I bet we'll see some mad popping for him at the PPV (I originally misspelled "popping" as "pooping". Not one of my better moments).

Now, I don't think Jeff will win the chamber match, and I don't think he'll main event WrestleMania, but I do think he'll be a world champion before the year is over. I think it's very likely that he'll win Money in the Bank 4. Jeff is hot, and Vince knows that there is a lot of money to be made if they market him well. He's no fool.

So, can Jeff be champ?

It will happen in 2008.

Alright, let's get to the Smackdown guys now.

Can Undtertaker be champ?

Taker is my pick to win the Smackdown elimination chamber, and I do think it will be Edge vs. Taker at WM24. If that's the case, it's probably likely that Taker will keep his WrestleMania undefeated streak going and beat Edge. Well, there's your world championship right there. Now, I don't think that his reign will be that long (after his last one was cut short thanks to an injury), and I also think this may be his last reign. Taker can still perform amazingly in a big match environment, but he can't keep this pace up forever.

Taker will still be a great help getting Smackdown talent over. I think he's going to be to Smackdown what Michaels is to Raw. He's a top level guy who can lose any number of times and still be a top level guy. That puts him in a great position to put others over.

So, can he be champ?

Taker has at least one more title run in him.

Can Batista be champ?

Thanks to the relatively shallow main event scene on Smackdown, Batista still has a good chance of being a world champion again. Honestly, it's pretty much inevitable. Remember that Taker/Batista feud we all thought was done? Yeah, I bet the WWE won't be able to resist the urge to revisit that one this year. Batista is also capable of being a believable challenger to all of the Smackdown monsters, like big Daddy V, Khali, and Mark Henry. Plus, despite how (un)popular he may be with the IWC, Batista still has a lot of loud, cheering fans. His time on top isn't done yet.

So, can he be champ?

Yes, Batista isn't done just yet.

Can Finlay be champ?

I love Finlay, but his booking has never indicated much interest in putting a world title on him. Now, he has been turned face, and is currently feuding with Vince, but that feud seems to be more about Hornswoggle than Finlay. It's kind of the reverse of the idea of having a manager for a wrestler who can't talk. You wanted to give a boring wrestler a character to represent them. Here we have a character who can't wrestle being given someone to wrestle for them.

Now, it is possible that Vince decides to have this storyline dominate Smackdown after WrestleMania, in which case a Finlay title run is possible, just so that Vince can screw him out of it. Still, it's only barely possible.

So, can Finlay be champ?

It doesn't look likely.

Can Big Daddy V be champ?

Ugh. Must I really write about Big Daddy V? I don't think there's anyone who doesn't remember Viscera, he doesn't seem to be attracting as much heat as the WWE would like, and even his manager is a boring character. A Big Daddy V title run will be horrible, and for that reason alone it should never happen.

So, can Big Daddy V be champ?

No, because I said so. Why is he even in this match? Freaking Kane would have been a better choice, but heaven forbid we don't arbitrarily have an even number of faces and heels in the match.

Can Great Khali be champ?

Man, it's hard to believe he was a world champion for a time. Of course, that was when Taker and Edge were injured, and the only reasonable title angle Smackdown could do was to have Batista chase Khali for the belt. Now that Smackdown has Edge and Taker back and healthy, I think Khali will be kept far away from the title.

So, can he be champ?

Not unless we see more freak injuries (again, god forbid).

Can MVP be champ?

It's really too early in MVP's career to tell if he's going to be world championship material. He has developed a good character, and he's shown that he can wrestle, but he hasn't been tested in a main event environment. It's also so early in his career that we can easily see him mess up.

MVP is still at that point where it's hard to tell if he's ever going to break through and become a main eventer. Things are going good for him so far, and putting him in the elimination chamber was a good move, but we're going to have to wait and see.

So, can MVP be champ?

Too early to say at this point.

That's it for this week. Feel free to e-mail me any questions you may have. Enjoy the PPV, and have a good week.