411 PPV Roundtable Preview: WWE No Way Out 2009

Introduction:

This Sunday, WWE presents the last PPV before WrestleMania, No Way Out. And in what has become a tradition for the show, the card is headlined by not one, but two Elimination Chamber matches, and this year, both the WWE and World Heavyweight titles will be on the line in WWE’s most barbaric structure, with the winner essentially guaranteed a title match at WWE’s silver anniversary of WrestleMania.

But that’s not all, as Shane McMahon and Shawn Michaels have both had all they can stands, and they can’t stands no more, as they’ll be taking on their biggest irritations, Randy Orton and JBL respectively, in separate singles matches with gigantic implications involved in the outcomes.

And Jack Swagger looks to continue his title reign as he faces the fighting Irishman Finlay, but with Christian making his shocking return to ECW and declaring his desire to take the big silver belt, and also with the lurking presence of Finlay’s son Hornswoggle under the ring, will Swagger have more distractions than he can handle?

Remember, if you want to test your prediction skills against the best the 411 staff has to offer, make sure to check out StableWars and their Play-Per-View contest, where you could win fabulous prizes for guessing the correct results.

And speaking of the 411 staff, here they are now.

The Staff:

Stephen Randle, The Wrestling News Experience

Mike Chin, The Importance Of…

Julian Bond, Against The Grain

Joe Roche, 411 Games Full Circle 360 News Report

Rob McNew, Raw live recapper

Dan Torkel, Brooklyn Brawlin’

Andy Clark, The Shimmy

Michael Weyer, Shining The Spotlight

Michael Bauer, ECW recapper

Chris Lansdell, If I Could Be Serious For a Moment

Robert S. Leighty Jr, From The Bowery

Jeremy Thomas, 411 Movies/TV Hush-Hush News Report

WWE NO WAY OUT 2009

Shane McMahon vs Randy Orton – No Holds Barred

Stephen Randle: The only question here is if WWE has decided to make us pay 30 dollars for a swerve/non-match or not. If it’s a swerve, Shane and Randy hug and there’s no match. If it’s not, we get the usual Shane spotfest, and Legacy runs in to save Randy from whatever crazy dive Shane plans, and Orton kicks him in the head.

Winner: Randy Orton

Mike Chin: Orton could use one more high profile win before headlining Wrestlemania, and his program with Shane is a sensible reason for him not to be involved in the cluster of the Elimination Chamber. This should put over Orton nicely and give him some solid momentum heading into Houston.

Incidentally, if WWE tries to work in swerve, I imagine it might be Stephanie McMahon aligning herself with The Legacy. She is from a wrestling family, and Orton hasn’t actually physically hurt her. I’m not necessarily hoping for it, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Winner: Randy Orton

Julian Bond:This should hopefully an awesome and insane “standard Shane McMahon vs. “Place larger than life wrestler here” match-up. Orton is finally becoming a number one made man, much better and more built up than his “Age of Orton” reign last year. So on his way to another and more successful title reign, Orton destroys McMahon to himself further on top of the wrestling food chain.

Winner: Randy Orton

Joe Roche: I give Shane all the credit in the world for trying to make it seem like he doesn’t have years of built up ring rust, but it’s obvious that his time away from the company was not spent training for this match. The camera tricks that the production guys have used to hide Shane’s rust have been admirable but unsuccessful for the most part. That being said, Shane was never Kurt Angle as a worker, and he generally just does a phenomenal job getting beat up which he should do in spades during this match. I expect Shane to feed off emotion for awhile but in the end this one won’t be a surprise. I do think Stephanie gets involved, probably at the end when Randy is lining up Shane for a punt to the head to stop the assault and protect her brother. After this match though she will be the only McMahon left (keep reading…)

Winner: Randy Orton

Rob McNew: This one is fairly predictable, but should be an entertaining mess nonetheless. Shane was built up for the past three weeks as a threat to Orton for the sole purpose of having Orton put him over. Shane is a non-wrestler, Orton is main eventing Wrestlemania, do the math.

Winner: Randy Orton

Dan Torkel: A lot of people seem to be predicting Orton going with Stephanie or some type of angle where Orton faces Triple H at Wrestlemania for the WWE Title rather than Cena. I like that angle but with a different twist. When McMahaons are involved, who always is the biggest star… thats right; VINCE! I think it will be revealed at Wrestlemania (in a throwback to WM X7’s ending) that Orton and Vince were in cahoots the whole time as a plan by Vince to get back at them for trying to kill him with stage equipment last year. The angle would be that they saw Vince, their billionaire father giving away their inheritance money away on live TV every week and needed to stop him. They staged an accident intending to scare him and it went a little too far. Vince cahooted with Orton to set up the wonder twins with the “punt heard round the world.” You can even have Vince say he told Randy to make it look good so it would be convincing. Then Shane would defend Daddy’s honor and get the shit kicked out of him by Randy and Stephanie would be humbled and embarassed when Randy beat her hubby Triple H at Wrestlemania. That all being said, this is academic.

Winner – Randy Orton (BLOODY PUNT)

Andy Clark: Forget the haters, this should be a lot of fun. In many ways I feel that this is almost TNA like insomuch as they seem to be using PPV to build to TV, because I think the next two weeks of Raw will be much more important for Randy Orton’s WrestleMania plans than this match. Still, this match could be a lot of fun given the participants. I’ll go ahead and call Triple H making the save after the match with Orton punting him in the head to give him an excuse out of winning the Chamber match. That can set up the inevitable No. 1 Contender’s Match between the two on Raw where Orton will drop the title opportunity setting him up for a match against a McMahon representative at Mania.

Winner: Randy Orton (Triple H with the post-match save and gets punted)

Michael Weyer: Call me crazy but I like Shane in these types of matches, really steps up to the fore and Orton can work them well too. So this should be a great high-spot match, plenty of blood and wild spots but Orton should go over to build toward Mania.

WINNER: Randy Orton

Michael Bauer: Of every match Shane McMahon has fought in a No Holds Barred scenario or the like, he has only won one time. And that one time was against the Big Show when pushing the WCW was more important. Every other time, pushing the other person or item was more important. Here, you have Randy Orton going into his WrestleMania title shot. There is no way he loses to Shane.

Winner: Randy Orton

Chris Lansdell: Is it really time for another Shane McMahon spotfest? I’m not sure where this is going, because the logical opponents for Orton at Mania are HHH and Vince and neither of them is a champion. Although HHH could be…anyway, Shane losing is the only likely outcome here. Possibly following at least one cranial punt.

Winner: Randy Orton

Robert S. Leighty Jr: The result for this seems pretty obvious, but the match getting to that result should be entertaining. Shane is more than capable of hanging in these matches, and as we all know, he has no problem killing himself for out enjoyment. Orton will be an evil bastard, and Shane will do all he can to defend the McMahon family. That equals some entertaining crap.

Winner: Randy Orton

Jeremy Thomas: I have high expectations for this, but could be disappointed if Shane doesn’t deliver his end. It’s been a few years since he’s stepped into the ring and if he’s lost a step or two this may not be as good as it otherwise could be. However I have no doubts he will bust his ass, and Orton will hold up his end nicely. The end-result here isn’t in doubt of course, as I think Shane will have some hot moments based on sheer fury but Orton will get the win off an RKO and then will finish it off with a punt kick in front of “poor Stephanie,” who may or may not show her true colors here.

Winner: Randy Orton (Pin following RKO)

Shawn Michaels vs JBL – All or Nothing

Stephen Randle: I can’t think of any logical person who thinks that JBL will win here. I mean, owning the Shawn Michaels name forever? I don’t think so. I’m a little disappointed, because I think they rushed to the conclusion after spending so much time setting it up, but I guess I can take solace in the fact that the match probably won’t be very good, which would have been magnified at Mania.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

Mike Chin: I thought they were going to hold this match off for Wrestlemania, and I am mostly happy they didn’t. Happy because Michaels deserves better at Mania, but a bit reserved because I worry they won’t have time now to properly build Michaels a fitting Wrestlemania program (my guess is an interpromotional match, likely with ‘Taker).

But, I digress. There’s a slight chance JBL could win, for a surprise and to prolong the feud, but I think WWE is prepared to cut its losses and move Michaels on to bigger things–and maybe set JBL up as a non-traditional Money in the Bank guy Wrestlemania. Regardless, Michaels, in all likelihood, takes the decisive victory.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

Julian Bond: Man…has this feud been personal or what! Shawn Michaels with his excellent partners (Flair, Batista, Jericho) in the ring has been providing compelling story after compelling story for the last year now and it’s been a beautiful thing. This storyline with JBL has been no exception. While many predicted that this would have dragged on longer into Wrestlemania, I think that the conclusion hits here. The two should put on a great emotional match with Michaels taking the win and his pride back, and my little guess (and hope) is that he will then move on to rumble with someone who might be freed up…like the Undertaker for a bout at Wrestlemania.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

Joe Roche: Another match that has no mystery surrounding it. I for one could not be happier that this feud is finally over. I think it stunk when it started, it was horrendous in the middle and it’s mercifully going to end before Wrestlemania. HBK seems to have sleepwalked through most of this angle, and it would have made a lot more sense for this premise to be done with a younger star to JBL’s Million Dollar Man. That being said, HBK gets the convincing win here, gets his redemption and moves on to Wrestlemania against the Undertaker.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

Rob McNew: There are a number of ways they could go with this. JBL could win and draw the story on a little bit further. Shawn could win and this feud could just end. The decision could be inconclusive and we could draw this out even further to Wrestlemania. My thoughts are that Shawn wins, but the feud doesn’t end. JBL loses and the financial portion of this feud ends, but JBL might just do something so vile to Rebecca that they are forced to settle the feud at Wrestlemania. Either way I think Shawn wins.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

Dan Torkel: This is exactly where it needs to be. Give JBL one more 3+ star match before eternally removing him from the top of the card and send Shawn home to Texas fo a date with Taker.

Winner – Shawn Michaels (Sweet Chin Music)

Andy Clark: Because I want it all
Or nothing at all
There’s nowhere left to fall when you reach the bottom
It’s now or never…

Anytime I get to quote O-Town (a great friggin’ band, I don’t care what anyone says) it’s a good day. It’s also awesome that this program, as solid as its been, can be concluded at No Way Out allowing us the opportunity to see HBK-Taker, the match everyone including the combatants wanted, at WrestleMania. If HBK loses, we riot.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

Michael Weyer: Having JBL win would be nice for the storyline but I just don’t see it. It’s built too much for Michaels to finally come back and get his comeuppance and free him up for someone else at Mania. It’ll be another great bout between them but HBK will get it out in the end.

WINNER: HBK

Michael Bauer: We all know how these work. Face is in a do or die either in his hometown or affecting the next time he goes there. WrestleMania is in Houston… close enough. This story has gone on long enough as it is and I can not see another match between these two at WrestleMania.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

Chris Lansdell: Ask yourself this: why would they bring a major storyline to a close on the PPV before the biggest PPV of the year? Doesn’t make much sense, does it? That makes me believe that whatever happens here will lead to a rematch in April or, less likely but possible, the beatdown of someone in the Raw chamber so JBL and/or Michaels gets in. With that said, I don’t see how Michaels can win here, already. The storyline has more left in it and that means JBL has to win.

Winner: JBL

Robert S. Leighty Jr: Might as well drag this out for another month. Somehow a JBL win will tie into Shawn vs Taker at Mania. I’m not 100% sure how they will get there (which is always fun), but as long as it leads to Shawn/Taker at WrestleMania I will be happy no matter the outcome this Sunday.

Winner: JBL

Jeremy Thomas: This is another match that’s not too hard to call. I’d thought that Michaels and JBL would last through WrestleMania, and that may still be the case if JBL goes for revenge following his loss here…either way the ‘E won’t keep up the “HBK as employee” thing here. Rebecca will likely be at ringside for this and will provide the proper pathos when JBL’s in control, and that will give Shawn the inspiration to come back strong and pick up the win to gain his freedom, and give JBL the superkick that we’ve been waiting to see.

Winner: Shawn Michaels (Pin following Sweet Chin Music)

Jack Swagger (c) vs Finlay – ECW Championship

Stephen Randle: So obvious it barely deserves a full sentence. Swagger wins, goes on to feud with Christian for WrestleMania. Next.

Winner: Jack Swagger

Mike Chin: This one seems to be sort of a battle of the placeholders. I sincerely don’t think WWE wanted Swagger as ECW champion, but needed to get the strap off of Matt Hardy to free him up for a feud with his brother on Smackdown, and Swagger was the best they had at hand. Finlay, meanwhile, is without question a solid old hand, but I can’t see him taking the title at this stage of his career–at least not without more build. More than likely, Swagger wins goes on to drop the strap to Tommy Dreamer at Mania.

Winner: Jack Swagger

Julian Bond: A nice match-up here with Finlay should definitely help new champ Swagger further establish himself as a solid ECW champ…but now with the totally out-of-nowhere unexpected return of Christian on this past week’s show, it’s definite that “Captain Charisma” has Swagger’s number. So Swagger retains here to set-up an obvious showdown with Christian for Mania’. Definitely looking forward to that!

Winner and STILL ECW Champion: Jack Swagger

Joe Roche: I hate the way Finlay is booked in the WWE. He’s a great wrestler, more valuable to the company in developing talent then I think most people realize, and he can still work a pretty good match. But he’s been placed in the terrible position of being a kid friendly clown for the most part and hasn’t won a match clean in about a year and a half. On the other hand I like Jack Swagger, the kid has a solid pedigree, and he has been built well. With the SHOCKING debut of Christian in ECW Tuesday night, and a pretty solid match with Swagger I think it’s all but clear that we’re getting Swagger/Christian at Wrestlemania. For those who hate Christian in ECW and think it’s a sign of Vince hating on Christian think about this, 7 weeks from Wrestlemania Christian has been thrown into the third most important title’s program instead of some MITB match, or no match at all. In my mind ECW was the only brand he would fit on (everyone wanted him, ECW was the only brand that could use a #1 face) and now he’s immediately one of the cornerstones of the company.

Winner and STILL ECW Champion: Jack Swagger

Rob McNew: There is no way Swagger is losing this belt to Finlay. Its pretty clear to everyone the program that is being set up is Swagger-Christian. Christian maybe makes a cameo, but in the end Swagger retains

Winner: STILL ECW Champion-Jack Swagger

Dan Torkel: For everyone who ever criticized my fantasy booking ideas… I give you the WWE Creative: bringing back a highly anticipated former star, who spent 3 years becoming World Title material and who preiously had established feuds with top stars on the two top shows and BAM… stick him in the oblivion of ECW. Thank you creative, you have proved my point. Bottom line, with Christian wanting the ECW Title (?!?!?!) Swagger retains and hands it to Chrsitian at Wrestlemania.

Winner and Still ECW Champion – Jack Swagger (Powerbomb)

Andy Clark: Before Christian’s ECW debut I would have picked Jack Swagger. After Christian’s ECW debut I’m definitely going with the “All-American American.” The match should be good, and likely the show opener, I just hope we get a PPV appearance by Captain Charisma as well.

Winner and STILL ECW Champion: Jack Swagger

Michael Weyer: Well, Christian’s return has shifted things up a bit as it’s now obvious they’re building up to him and Swagger for Mania. Thus, Swagger retains here to set up the big fight.

WINNER and STILL ECW Champion: Jack Sssssssswagger

Michael Bauer: I was all set to give Finlay the title… then Christian came into the picture this week. Swagger will get another big title defense and then Captian Charisma wins at WrestleMania.

Winner: Jack Swagger

Chris Lansdell: This has sleeper match written all over it. If we can avoid Christian-ference (his new music is awesome, by the way) then Swagger has a real chance to show off in this match and make himself a real money player in WWE. No way he drops here.

Winner: Jack Swagger

Robert S. Leighty Jr: The return of Cage, and his making his ECW Title intentions know has taken away any drama in this match. Swagger should get some great on the job training with Finlay and I have high hopes for this one. Hopefully they get some time, and Swagger will get another credible title defense on PPV.

Winner and still ECW Champ: Jack Swagger

Jeremy Thomas: Swagger’s only held the belt for about a month now, and it’s too early to take it from him. The guy’s got a real upside to him and the kind of smarmy asshole look that the ‘E loves their heels to have. I’d love to see Finlay take the belt, but as long as he’s got Hornswaggle with him he won’t be taken seriously by the casual fans. He’s on ECW to be the mentor and groom the younger talent to become bigger things, and that’s exactly what he’s doing here against Swagger. Obviously, Christian’s debut throws things all sorts of wonky and hints strongly at Christian/Swagger at WrestleMania, which doesn’t change my opinion on the outcome of this match.

Winner: Jack Swagger (Gutwrench Powerbomb; STILL ECW Champion)

John Cena (c) vs Kofi Kingston vs Rey Mysterio vs Kane vs Mike Knox vs Chris Jericho – World Heavyweight Championship – Elimination Chamber

Stephen Randle: Hey, speaking of obvious results, unless WWE has either lost their mind or is actually serious about changing results that we easily predict because they’re so obvious and decide to stick the belt on Mike Knox, there’s no way John Cena isn’t walking out of this match with the belt. So, when your talent roster is this thin on top when you put all the rest of Raw’s main event talent on the undercard, why would you bother with an Elimination Chamber match? Is one of these just not enough? Because I’ve yet to see that classic, genre-defining Elimination Chamber match that makes me want to see more of them.

Winner: John Cena

Mike Chin: It seems clear that, at least from the Raw side of things, WWE is trying to sell this PPV on the Elimination Chamber itself–not its particpants. Kingston has never been booked as a main event level talent. Kane’s best days are behind, and he got pinned cleanly by Kingston a few weeks ago. Knox is a serviceable generic big man, without any prayer of ever headlining a Wrestlemania. Jericho is in line for one of the highest profile Mania matches–be it against Mickey Rourke, Ric Flair or Steve Austin–regardless, he’s not walking in with the title. This leaves John Cena and Rey Mysterio. Mysterio has main-evented a Mania before, and has the star power to be mentioned at the main event level. In reality, though, there’s really no question that Cena, the biggest star in the company, is going to come out on top.

Winner: John Cena

Julian Bond: I’m loving the line-ups of both Chambers this year. Even though there’s people like Kingston and Knox who really have no chance in hell of winning, it’s really nice that they are in here to really strut their stuff on a main stage like this. Should be a good bout with Cena retaining and more than likely moving on to face his long-time nemesis Randy Orton at Wrestlemania.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: John Cena

Joe Roche: This is the absolute worst Elimination Chamber match ever right? Even the December 2 Dismember match could have gone one of two ways (Big Show/Lashley) and hell even RVD or CM Punk might have walked out with the belt (although unlikely). There is only one potential winner in this match. Kane and Mysterio are way past the point where they can be champion, let alone headliners of Wrestlemania. Jericho is already slated to be in one of the high profile matches with Austin, Flair or Rourke (or maybe Steamboat) and Mike Knox is….well he’s Mike Knox.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: John Cena

Rob McNew: This might be the easiest match to pick ever. The only guy in the match other than Cena capable of carrying the big gold belt into Wrestlemania is already setting up his Wrestlemania program, and its with an actor. If ever there was a time to bust out the old “Spoiler: Cena” Wins sign its for this one. Still the players involved should make it an entertaining match.

Winner: STILL World Heavyweight Champion-John Cena

Dan Torkel: If the CHamber is Satan’s Structure, then this match is the Devil’s playpen. Come on! I know the logic of booking Cena strong going into Wrestlemania, but maybe even one person who stands a threat. Kane, Knox, Kofi… NO NO NO! Rey would be fun to keep around and Jericho is a joke to everyone after being tapped like a bitch by SUPERCENA on Raw. The real question now, is are they going to push Orton/Cena. Although I love the idea of Orton/Triple H since it makes more logical sense with both the McMahons, and history of the two, doing that leaves no one to feud with Cena. Edge/Cena has been done to death, HBK and Taker hopefully will have their match. I guess we will see where it plays out.

Winner and Still World Champion – John “SUPER” Cena (Knox via 619/FU, Kofi via Codebreaker, Kane via 619/FU/Lionsault, Jericho via West Coast Pop, Rey via FU)

Andy Clark: While this Chamber Match isn’t as sexy as its counterpart, that’s probably by design as they still needed other top matches. The person I’m really the most interested in watching is Mike Knox in this match because if booked right this could be a star maker for him. Ultimately there is no way Cena loses here, nor should he.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: John Cena (eliminates Rey Mysterio)

Michael Weyer: It’s not as exciting as its counterpart EC match but this should be interesting nontheless. Jericho and Cena is the big draw of course but the various showdowns and shifting battles should make it fun until Cena retains.

WINNER and STILL World Champion: John Cena

Michael Bauer: Ok, let’s think this through. Mike Knox is not winning ANY title, let alone the World Heavyweight Title. Kofi Kingston is never the World Heavyweight Title. Kane is not winning the title because it would mean him holding a real World title for longer than a week. Rey Mysterio is not winning the title again because we are done remembering Eddie Guerrero. That leaves John Cena and Chris Jericho. Jericho vs. Orton would make some sort of sense, but the money is in Cena and Orton, which probably should have happened last year. Besides, Jericho will most likely be facing some form of a Hall of Famer.

Winner: John Cena

Chris Lansdell: A couple of months ago, people were bitching that the Raw main event and title picture were stale. So WWE try and switch it up and bring in some fresh faces, and people bitch that the Elimination Chamber is full of jobbers. Sure none of these people is going to beat Cena, but they will put on a damn good show and one or two of them might have a breakout performance.

Winner: John Cena

Robert S. Leighty Jr: Jericho, and possibly Mysterio are the only 2 credible challengers in this match and that’s not a good thing. I hope they don’t book this like Cena’s last EC match where Angle and Michaels got bounced early and we were left with Cena, Carlito, and Masters. I don’t want to see Jericho go first, followed by Rey, and be stuck with Kane/Knox vs Cena. The result again is pretty damn obvious as Cena is marching towards Mania.

Winner and still World Champ: John Cena

Jeremy Thomas: Not much suspense here at No Way Out, is there folks? I’m personally thrilled to see Kofi and Knox in the Elimination Chamber here, as it seems like the ‘E is interested in seeing how they would do in upper midcard spots. But let’s be honest, neither of them are winning the belt. Kane’s time to hold the World Heavyweight Championship is long past, and while he may get one reign at some point as a reward for staying with the company for so long it won’t be just before WrestleMania. Rey Rey holding the belt would be pointless at this juncture, since I don’t see Orton abandoning Legacy to move to SmackDown and Jericho/Orton doesn’t make much sense that leaves one possible result.

Winner: John Cena (Last eliminating Jericho; STILL World Heavyweight Champion)

Edge (c) vs Triple H vs Jeff Hardy vs Big Show vs The Undertaker vs Vladimir Kozlov – WWE Championship – Elimination Chamber

Stephen Randle: At least they got the talent for this one. Let’s see, Show and Kozlov have virtually no shot, Jeff will likely face his turncoat brother at Mania, so that leaves the rumoured Mania main event contenders. The only question is if Edge walks in with the belt, or Triple H. And I suspect that Trip dreams of holding up the belt as the fireworks go off to end WrestleMania 25, and it’d be less special (I guess) if he already has the belt going in. It’s interesting, by the way, that they’re making such a big deal about the titles both being on the line, because last year’s Chamber matches were the first time that a World title was NOT on the line.

Winner: Edge

Mike Chin: Relative to the Raw chamber, the caliber of kayfabe talent here is pretty remarkable. From the way they’ve been booked, every single guy does belong in this match, and there are a lot of guys who could carry the strap into Wrestlemania.

We’ll start with the obvious–Kozlov is not going to win. He’s an adequate hand who has been built pretty well, but he does not have close to enough star power to headline the biggest show of the year. Then there’s Big Show. The guy is a constant main event threat, and has been pushed reasonably well over the last year. But, once again, he’s not high enough on the card at this moment to realisitically main event Wrestlemania.

From there, things get a lot more interesting, as there are still several scenarios that could play out for the Smackdown main event at Wrestlemania. My favorite is the one I’ve been pushing for months–an Edge-Christian-Jeff Hardy-Matt Hardy fourway with the title on the line, ideally with a ladder, otherwise hardcore. As more and more weeks slip by without Christian’s return, I’m skeptical they’re going to bring him back before Mania. A triple threat is still possible, of course.

There is also a very real possibility that the Hardys will not be in the world title picture, as they square off against one another at Mania, or the two of them both wind up in Money in the Bank. If this is the case, WWE is almost certainly going to turn to one of their proven main eventers to headline the show–Triple H or Undertaker. These guys could square off against one another in a rematch of the last time Wrestlemania was in Houston, but I find it more likely that we’ll have a straight face-heel main event for Mania, meaning one of these guys would probably be facing off against Edge. And since it’s Wrestlemania, tradition indicates Edge will walk in with the title.

The common thread through each of these scenarios is that Edge will more than likely head to Houston as champion, and so, he’s the safe pick to win it here. Regardless, this should be the most interesting match of the night.

Winner: Edge

Julian Bond: Another good batch of people here in the cage, especially with the big monsters of Kozlov and Show there to really mess some folks up. With the “curious case of Jeff Hardy”, I’m guessing that Matt somehow interferes with Jeff (either by jumping him beforehand or messing with his individual chamber door…hum) thus costing him the match and setting up their one-on-one bout at Mania’ (I’m guessing no remote involvment with the presummingly involved Christian here since the man shocked us all by coming back this week to ECW…maybe later down the line). Lastly with Edge, I believe that the man will barely retain here and will probably end up facing Big Show in a “filler” Title bout at Mania’, leaving HHH probably feuding with Kozlov…to maybe break his “undefeated streak”.

Winner and STILL WWE Champion: Edge

Joe Roche: This past Raw made a lot of things clear to me. I think that Randy Orton might have had a bit of foreshadowing in his promo before the Priceless tag match, and then Michael Cole solidified it with his whole – 60% of the EC matches that have a belt on the line end with the Champion losing rant that he did about forty times. Cena is not going to lose, which means Edge will. Its obvious that Edge is the placeholder champion du jour and this will be no different. I think we all know that Koslov and Big Show are not winning this match. I don’t see Hardy/Hardy needing the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania so that one is off the books, and The Undertaker will most likely be facing HBK so that’s out. That leaves Triple H, and here is how I see this going down. HHH beats Edge for the WWE Championship, on Raw the next night Legacy brag about taking out another McMahon and Stephanie brings out the last defender of the family — Triple H. Orton cashes in his title shot against Triple H (as I said in the Rumble predictions HHH/Orton is a better storyline main event for Wrestlemania then shoehorning Cena into the McMahon angle). That frees up Cena to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against any number of people including Edge.

Winner and NEW WWE Champion: Triple H

Rob McNew: Unlike its Raw counterpart, this is one is fairly tough to pick. I figure there are three possible scenarios. First, Edge could retain which would likely set up a matchup between him and Trips for the gold at Wrestlemania. No one seems to be too excited about this one. Second, Triple H could win the title, which would almost assuredly set up Orton outing Trips as Stephanie’s husband and setting up a HHH-Orton showdown at Wrestlemania. From a storyline perspective this one probably makes the most sense given Orton’s promo, and Steph’s phone call Monday. Even though its not the freshest match in the world, it is a fresh story, so I’d be fine with this one. Third, the one that no one is talking about. What if Jeff regains the title in the chamber and sets up Jeff vs. Matt at Wrestlemania for the title. This one is the longest shot on the board for sure, and that match doesn’t really need the belt. Still WWE has been keeping everyone on their toes lately, so they may go for the result that no one sees coming. As for me, I’m going with option number two.

Winner: NEW WWE Champion-Triple H

Dan Torkel: Trouble must be in paradise for Vicky to push her husband into this match. This boils down to one thing: Is the WWE going to run a Wrestlemania with Cena/Orton, and Triple H/Edge as the main events? Part of me says yes since its the super safe bet (banking the company on proven commodities in one event, and the two top young self-made stars in the other). The other part of me says no since those match are flat out boring, both on paper and in the ring. I know they would be good matches, but they still don’t scream main events at Wrestlemania. I mean after all they had Cena and Orton penned for last year and rushed it to No Way Out so they could run a triple threat with Hunter. One way or another I see a Orton/Vince scam on everyone and re-ignition of the Corporate Champion with the Corporate Legacy… bringing back Ted Sr. as a liason! Here, I have to go with my gut and with the odds so stacked against him, I think Edge sneaks away for one last time. This belt switched hands at the previous 3 ppvs now and it needs some stability before Wrestlemania.

Winner and Still WWE Champion – Edge (Kozlov via Chokeslam/Swanton, Hardy via Spear after Matt-ference, Show via Hell’s Gate, Taker via Pedigree after Edge chair shot, Triple H via chairshot and spear).

Andy Clark: This match is pretty interesting as even though Edge is definitely the odds on favorite to leave with the title I think Jeff Hardy, Triple H, and Big Show all have a fairly reasonable shot at the belt too. I have my doubts that Jeff will make it to the match as I think he may suffer some sort of “accident” thanks to Matt, but since I’m predicting a cheap exit for Triple H then I doubt it. Triple H will fight valiantly and we’ll get the predicted WrestleMania match between he and Edge in the final portion of the match, but he won’t be able to handle Edge and a concussion and succumb to the Rated R Superstar. Expect Big Show to get treated well setting up his title match with Edge for Mania.

Winner and STILL WWE Champion: Edge

Michael Weyer: This one’s tough. Edge can retain or they give it back to HHH or Jeff gets it back. It’s really hard to say as I don’t know if they’d want to jump the belt around again just before Mania as Edge/Hardy would be a good showdown there. Having UT makes it tougher as they may want him and HHH for the belt at Mania. Still, having switched the title around so many times already in the last few months, they may want it to be more stable now heading into Mania.

WINNER and STILL WWE champion: The Rated-R Superstar

Michael Bauer: Unlike the Raw Chamber, almost everyone here can possibly walk away from the Chmaber as Champion. The only one who couldn’t is Kozlov. Big Show could, but let’s face it… the booking of him lately has been worse than CM Punk as Champion. Jeff Hardy could be and it would be really interesting with Matt Hardy’s involvement, but I just don’t see them having that match being for the title. The Undertaker could win it, but if he appears destined to face Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania, the title does not need to be on the line. That leaves Edge and Triple H, which might actually be the matchup at WrestleMania since nothing else makes sense. Edge should retain unless they really want the title to switch hands on four consecutive Pay Per Views. And I don’t think they do.

Winner: Edge

Chris Lansdell: This is a tough call. HHH, Edge or Taker could all win this one and nobody would bat an eyelid. Despite having the bigger names I think this might actually be the less entertaining of the two matches. As for a winner…I have to go with the HHH-Orton main event at Mania.

Winner: HHH

Robert S. Leighty Jr: The title changed hands at the PPV in Nov, Dec, and Jan. It has to stop at some point, and since Mania will probably feature yet another title change, this has to be the month to stop the bleeding. This one certainly has more star power, and Hardy, Edge, HHH, and Taker should do more than enough crazy shit to each other to make this one more entertaining. In the end I suspect Edge retains much like Cena.

Winner and still WWE Champ: Edge

Jeremy Thomas: This is the big suspense match. Really, anyone but Kozlov could walk away from this with the win. Big Show has to be considered a dark horse with the way they’ve built the Show/Edge tension, and Jeff could conceivably win to set up a Jeff/Edge or Jeff/Matt match for ‘mania. And of course, Taker’s always a threat, and doing another Streak vs. Title match would be possible. These are outside possibilities, but I wouldn’t bet against them. More likely is Edge retaining or the Game winning, which would result in Edge/’H either way you slice it at Mania. Call me crazy, but I think the ‘E sees more money in ‘H chasing the belt up to WrestleMania and so I think Edge retains in the end.

Winner: Edge (Last eliminating ‘H; STILL WWE Heavyweight Champion)

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