so the rumored match for the wwe championship @ elimination chamber is:

punk v cena v adr v miz v truth v ziggler

it's possible (and i'm sincerely hoping) this was "booked" so as to not spoil jericho's return, and that jericho will be in this match, likely in place of adr or ziggler

however if this is the actual match and if jericho v punk is to be believed for WM, get the feeling this means we're a lock for THE CHAMP IS HERE, likely via jericho interference

i really hope not tho. jericho v punk for the title would be ****ing elite, and i'm so ****ing tired of cena carrying the belt. besides, it's not like there isn't enough hype already behind rock v cena that they need the title on the line for it

If Jericho wins the Royal Rumble he wont need to be in the elimination chamber match. I think that much more like than Rock/Cena being for the title.

jericho doesn't need to win the rumble, nor should he, so i hope that's not the route they take with him cuz it seems like a ****ing waste. much rather see barrett win it

"Need"? This isn't Money in the Bank. It's the top guys competing for a main event spot at WrestleMania. It's usually not used to elevate a mid-level guy.

Not that I would have a complaint in the world with Barrett or Ziggler winning it.

Yeah Jericho returning tonight, winning the RR this month and facing Punk at Mania would be pretty much perfect. If Barrett was to win the Royal Rumble that would pretty much guarantee Bryan losing the championship to Orton.

you could argue this during the attitude era but given the massive disparity of top level guys, wasting the RR win on someone massively over already seems dumb. the rumble is a far more legitimate elevation tool than MITB. MITB guarantees what? cashing in a championship on a guy who's already hurt? they're still a fringe champion with not much legitimacy (see: swagger, bryan, punk the first time). give the guy who's on the cusp a rumble win, and whether they win or lose at WM, they're elevated to legit main eventer

I think a better elimination chamber would be: HHH vs. Nash vs. Brodus vs. Jericho vs. Undertaker vs. Brock. The catch being none of them would enter the match as champion so HHH would just bury/strip Punk or Ziggler of the title before it starts since they aren't big enough by WWE standards.

As much as I think Barrett/Orton is a lock for WM after last week's SmackDown, I don't think it should be for the belt. I think D-Bryan defending against a non-injured Henry should take that spot, as Barrett/Orton has enough heat as a feud not to need the title. If Bryan doesn't defend the title (or try to win it back) at WM then he's got nothing to do.

Xtian >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Henry

daniel bryan should not be wrestling a championship match at WM for any reason. he's so mediocre on the mic and soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo flat with teh crowd. unless you knew him as danielson in the indy days, you have no reason at all to mark out for him. hopefully he'll find success as a heel but in his current iteration he sucks

He's far and away the best in ring wrestler the company has. Last week he showed vast improvement on the mic with his back stage segment with Big Show, WWE is finally giving his character some attention, and by Wrestlemania he should be more than worthy of being in a championship match.

FWIW, I did love D. Bryan doing something and asking for a thank you. He'd make a good heel character for sure.

"I prevented you from winning that title. I deserve a thank you, because you'd be in way over your head."

To be fair to him his mic work has been above average for almost all of his WWE career. He had some bad promos in NXT, but hes never really been bad since his call up to the proper roster, he just hasnt had much chance to show it.

Outside of a healthy Kurt Angle, Bryan is probably the best technical wrestler in the world today, that alone should be enough reason for him to be in the championship match at mania.

bryan is a spectacular technical wrestler, but this is arguably the most important wrestlemania in wwe history (viewership is fading, they're just starting a network, they NEED this to be a hit more than anything ever), and you can honestly tell me you'd trust bryan as he is right now to co-main event it?

technical ability isn't enough and if it were, bryan would be the most over man in all of wrestling. i mean, it's probably not his fault, he's a fish out of water and the constant burying cole's been doing makes the impressionable target audiance just tune out of whatever he's doing.

bryan is the "community" of wrestling right now. he's a niche champion the smarks love but the rest of the viewership tunes out for the far more bland but with wider mass appeal "big bang theory" which in this instance is say, orton. it's not community's fault nbc does a **** job marketing it and it's not bryan's fault wwe does a **** job handling him, but it is what it is and there's too little time to make bryan over enough to justify having him in one of the big 3 (maybe 4 if u count h and undertaker) matches

A PPV with Taker vs probably HHH, Cena vs Rock, Punk vs probably Jericho and maybe Brock vs Someone can afford to have Bryan vs Henry or Bryan vs Christian even if you think he is being carried in promoting the match by the others.

I think your last sentence is wrong. There's 3 other matches that the casual fans are going to care way more about than whoever is in the SD main event. People are going to order Mania for Rock/Cena, Undertaker vs whoever, and the Punk WWE championship match.

If this was back in the attitude era when there was only one championship I would 100% agree with you, but with their being two heavy weight championships, the biggest match of all time (Rock/Cena) and potentially Undertaker's last match ever, I think fans will buy the ppv regardless if Bryan is in a championship match or not. So WWE can try out Bryan in the championship match with little risk of losing buys.

Randy Orton was at one point scheduled to win the Royal Rumble in his hometown of St. Louis, Mo. later this month, reports the Wrestling Observer newsletter, but his injury has caused those plans to potential change. Because one doesn't have to do much physically in the Rumble compared to a full-fledged match, he could still enter late in the Rumble and eliminate the last few people without a great risk of injury, and thus plans could go forward. The other option would be for him to rest and recover in January, then return at the Elimination Chamber in February and earn a title shot that way at WrestleMania.

-PWTorch

What the hell? Randy doesn't need anything like that. Garbage.

They should do vignettes with Randy pooping in different types of bags throughout his injury.

Orton vs Bryan? Really? Really?

There is zero chance they move the title off Henry, to Show, to Bryan, to Barrett and then probably to Orton in the space of 4 months, surely? Like, even for them, that would be insane.

Fwiw i could probably get behind the match, i just dont see what the story will be or how Bryan is meant to get over unless they are going to heel turn him.

Bryan vs Henry isn't about the match, it's about the story imo. Danielson's greatest asset as a wrestler is his ability to tell a story, and his status as an underdog vs the beast who's been destroying people for the past year will tell a great story. Having him defend the belt by making Henry tap out would put him over as the star he deserves to be.

the return of orton's inner monolouge tho!

VENGEANCE SHALL BE MINE!

I am watching Portland - OKC relive on NBA TV right now - and Jim Ross is one of the co-commentators.

haha that's awesome.. league pass is free atm as well so I'm going to check that out..