IMG Credit: WWE

No, it won’t be Tamina.

This is another instance where the champ has cleaned out the division but in this case I could buy most of the challengers taking the title. WWE would be crazy to not try and push Evans at some point, Naomi has been pushed before, Banks and Bayley are joined at the hip forever and then there’s that other person in the match who seems to have video of Vince tickling a judge with a rubber duck. I’m not sure where this goes and that’s a nice feeling.

For some reason I want to say Evans wins here, but this seems like a setup for another Bayley vs. Banks feud so I’ll take Bayley retaining. Maybe she stabs Banks in the back to win it or maybe it’s the opposite, but for the sake of this I’ll say Bayley keeps the belt. It won’t be for much longer though as she needs something else to do, but she has gotten something out of this reign and that’s a good thing.

IMG Credit: WWE

Hang on a second though.

Yeah let’s just get this one out of the way early. It’s one of those matches that you have nightmares about but at the same time, I’m almost curious to see how bad this can actually be. This is your nightmare show of the year and my goodness it could be incredible in one way or….well ok there isn’t another on there because this isn’t going to work, but that might be the case for another reason.

I don’t think Elias is working this match. They did the big injury angle last week and I think you know where this is going: Rob Gronkowski takes his place and gets his win over Corbin. As much as I could go for seeing Corbin lose, I think Gronkowski might be even more annoying. This is something that we’re just going to have to get through because Gronkowski has personality, which is code for he’s one of those people you want to see get tasered and throw off a bridge in Louisiana. Somehow this might be worse, but at least this should be short.

IMG Credit: WWE

Your random match of the year.

Now we have one of the most confusing matches on the whole thing. On one hand, I can go with the idea of showcasing the two of them on the biggest show of the year. On the other hand though, I’m not big on adding more matches to the already crazy bloated card for the sake of putting them on the card. That doesn’t often work well, but a good performance here would be a big deal for both.

Black winning here is really the only thing that makes sense as Lashley has nothing going on at the moment. I’d go with Black winning here because he seems to have more potential, though I’m not sure I could see Lashley losing after everything he has done in recent months. You could go either way here, but the logical pick seems to be Black.

IMG Credit: WWE

This one changed a bit.

This is a match I didn’t think I would actually see but it is the kind of thing that has been built up well. Otis has gone from what should be a goofy character to a goofy character with a purpose. The fans are into him and while I don’t think he’s going to be able to last long term at the top of the card, but you would think this is where Mandy Rose sides with Otis and dumps Ziggler. If nothing else there were certainly hints at Ziggler having some kind of a plan with Sonya Deville last week.

In the other prediction I’m sure I’ll get wrong, I’ll take Otis here, though for the life of me I can’t picture Ziggler losing to him. It seems like a situation where no matter how much sense something makes, Vince McMahon would wind up saying that no one would believe Otis wins the match and Rose chooses him. I hope I’m wrong because it would be so annoying, but it isn’t out of the question. Otis wins and mixed tag rematches abound, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

IMG Credit: WWE

A year to be a champion, that’s a long time.

I’m not used to this. One of the longest running statements that I would make in these things would be “Baszler has to lose this time” and then be horribly wrong more often than not. This time around she’s challenging though and I’m not sure how to take that. Somehow it has been a year since Lynch won the title in the first place but the problem is she has run out of serious challengers. That’s where Baszler comes in.

I’ll go with Baszler winning because otherwise, what is she supposed to do? She dominated NXT at a level that rivaled Asuka and losing would just make her look like she choked (different than when she chokes people out of course). At the same time, Lynch needs ANYTHING else to do at the moment. She’s still over and on fire but at some point you have to reset things a bit. Lynch may be the biggest female star ever and a loss after a year as champion isn’t going to do any career ending damage.

IMG Credit: WWE

They just can’t get away from each other.

Now we’ll get to something interesting for a chance with a rather intense feud. These two have the potential to beat the living heck out of each other and that could make for a very good brawl. It’s a personal rivalry and that’s one of the best things that you can get. I’m curious to see if Beth Phoenix is going to interfere here, as it would certainly fit in the story they have at the moment.

I think I’ll take Edge here, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’m wrong on this one. Orton winning in the end with an RKO or two would make a lot of sense, but Edge winning and getting his revenge feels like the right idea. Edge has a much better story to tell at the moment and having Orton win doesn’t make a ton of sense. I’ll go with Edge, but I’m not convinced.

IMG Credit: WWE

These still matter, right?

Can we just go ahead and call this the worst title in recent memory? They haven’t actually been defended on TV since December and I don’t think many people really care. There is nowhere near enough depth for something like this and it shows worse and worse every single week. The Warriors are the third champions and I’m not sure they even have three challengers right now.

Bliss and Cross win the titles here and they’re not going to be able to do much with them anyway. At the end of the day, there is just nothing going on with the titles and there is no need for them. Having the titles defended on all three brands helps a bit, but when you’re not defending them on any brand, what difference does it make? Just go with the title change as the titles die a little more each day.

IMG Credit: WWE

E Pluribus Theory.

Here’s your match that might have been changed as much as anything else. At the end of the day, there is no reason for these teams to be fighting, mainly because Garza and Theory weren’t even a team until four days ago. If nothing else, that shows you just how bad the tag division is at this point. You would think that the solution might be to bring over another team from Smackdown or NXT, but this is what we’re getting instead. Points to Theory for getting here though, as that’s quite the nice nod.

In what might be the easiest pick of the night, I’ll take the Street Profits to win here. There is no reason to suggest that they are going to drop the titles to a literally thrown together team and I can’t imagine the match being anything more than what should be a cool down match or Kickoff Show match. Just go with what makes sense here and don’t do anything stupid, which I don’t think they will.

IMG Credit: WWE

What happened to this feud?

This is something that seemed to be a much bigger match than it wound up being. The biggest problem here is how the story has kind of fallen apart due to so many people involved being out of the show for various reasons. That makes things all the more complicated, but at the end of the day it just isn’t all that interesting on its own. Rollins has cooled a bit, but who hasn’t at this point?

I’ll take Rollins here and I don’t know why he would lose in this situation. I know that they’re setting up the idea that Owens has never won anything at WrestleMania (incorrect but whatever) but Rollins seems to have a lot more potential moving forward than he does. Hopefully the match is good, but this should be Rollins the entire way, albeit after some good near falls.

IMG Credit: WWE

We had to get through this one sooner or later. WWE can only do so many things at once and that has not been so clear in a long time. Just ten days ago, they were trying to build towards three shows at the same time and since one of them was in Saudi Arabia and the other one was Wrestlemania, Elimination Chamber was lost in the shuffle. Throw in the fact that the likely main event is designed to crown a pretty obvious #1 contender for the Raw Women’s Title and this show might not be the most appealing. Let’s get to it.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Elimination Chamber

Miz and John Morrison are defending and in this case, that’s not a great thing for them. They won the titles a mere nine days ago and have already lost twice, because in WWE’s mind, that makes them tougher or something. Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler won a gauntlet match (because we can’t say Tag Team Turmoil anymore for whatever reason) to earn the right to enter last, as the best way to build up a six team elimination match is with a six team elimination match.

I’ll go with something I’d like to see more than what I think will happen and go with the Usos to win here, setting up one more big match against New Day for the titles at Wrestlemania. Now odds are Miz and Morrison retain or they put the titles on Roode and Ziggler (because reasons) but I have to have some hope for the future, and while New Day vs. Usos may have been done to death already, it’s better than any other option these titles have at Wrestlemania (assuming they’re even defended, which they don’t need to be).

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits(c) vs. Seth Rollins/Buddy Murphy

Rematch from this week’s Raw where the Profits won the titles in a pretty surprising twist. It also makes me wonder where things are going from here, as if the Profits retain it makes the title change seem a little unnecessary (in storyline terms at least) but if Rollins and Murphy retain, it ties Rollins down a bit for Wrestlemania. In other words, it depends on where you think things are going next.

Therefore, I’ll take the Profits to retain, as it’s hard to imagine Rollins in a nothing Raw Tag Team Title match at Wrestlemania. He has bigger things to do, like fight Kevin Owens in a big singles match, which is where I think they’re going. Murphy can be in his corner or something, but for not, the logical move is to keep the titles on the Profits and give the fans something to cheer about on Monday.

United States Title: Andrade(c) vs. Humberto Carrillo

This is a match that we’ve seen multiple times already and I’m not sure how much I want to see it again. The question is whether the story ends here or if we go on to Wrestlemania for a four way match for the title also involving Angel Garza and Rey Mysterio. Either way, you can tell that WWE wants to do something with Carrillo, and after his previous failed attempts to win the title, I don’t know how many more times he can come up short

I’ll take a shot here and say Carrillo wins the title, as I just can’t picture him losing another title match to Andrade. I do expect the four way at Wrestlemania as it could be a cool match, but these matches haven’t exactly done much to make me care about the buildup. Odds are the match will be entertaining, but sweet goodness Carrillo wouldn’t be able to find charisma if he fell into it. That isn’t going to get him very far, but I think he gets the title here.

Drew Gulak vs. Daniel Bryan

This match was set up last night on Smackdown and it’s one of the more interesting matches on the show actually. Bryan has been feuding with a few different people as of late, and that makes things a little different. I’m not sure if it’s going to mean anything, but it’s great to see someone helping out some of the talent who can’t get a breathe otherwise. Not many people would do that and it doesn’t surprise me that Bryan is one of them who will.

Of course Bryan wins here because as nice as he is, I can’t picture him losing to Gulak in a major match. Bryan giving his friends a hand is a big deal and it’s something that helps everything out here. I’m not sure where this is leading to (maybe Bryan stands up to Sheamus as the resident top small guy) but for now, he can make Gulak look great and hopefully give him a chance to do something else, albeit with Bryan winning.

Intercontinental Title: Braun Strowman(c) vs. Sami Zayn/Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

Then there’s this and I’m not sure what to make of it. Strowman has already beaten Nakamura for the title and now he has to overcome even more odds. Part of the problem here is that Nakamura already held the title for about seven months and didn’t do anything with it, because that’s how midcard titles work these days. It’s not clear if only Nakamura can win the title, but if he’s the only option, it’s a lot less interesting in a hurry.

Either way, I’m going with Strowman retaining, if nothing else because he needs to keep the title for a little while to build him back up. There are only so many times you can have him lose and we have long surpassed that number for Strowman. Let him overcome the odds and crush Zayn like a bug, which is the right way to go in something like this. I’m not sure where this is going for everyone but Strowman retaining is the only way to go here.

Aleister Black vs. AJ Styles

If there is one match that can steal the show, this is it. It’s officially a rematch from Monday where Styles gave Black his first pinfall loss, albeit with so many asterisks involved that it doesn’t really mean much. This one comes down to whether or not Undertaker gets involved, as Styles vs. Undertaker is all but a lot for Wrestlemania. That’s going to mean something for the match here and I think I know what it is.

I’ll go with Styles to win here, likely with interference from the Good Brothers and capped off with Undertaker giving one of those “signs” of his. Black losing to interference is a lot different than taking a clean loss so hopefully we get somewhere else for him at Wrestlemania. I have no clue where that is but as long as it’ snot the battle royal, he should be fine. But yeah, Styles wins here.

Raw Women’s Elimination Chamber

I think I’ve made my thoughts on this one about as clear as possible, as has WWE. The Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler match has been teased since November and now we’re at the point where it can be set up for Wrestlemania itself. For some reason we need to do that inside the Elimination Chamber rather than just having Baszler beat Asuka in a battle of the best NXT Women’s Champions ever, but then again that doesn’t make for the best show name.

In the least surprising result in years for WWE, Baszler wins here, hopefully by eliminating everyone in the match. Baszler vs. Lynch has all but been announced and that has made this match feel completely unimportant as it has been built up. I’m not sure what we are going to be seeing otherwise, but seeing Natalya, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan treated as serious contenders to the biggest women’s match of the year is going to be a lot to take.

Overall Thoughts

What else is there to say about this show? It’s one of the least interesting and least important shows that WWE has put on in what feels like forever and the build hasn’t changed any of that. The World Champions aren’t going to be in the house because their Wrestlemania matches are already set and we have a seven match card (with Bayley/Sasha Banks vs. Naomi/Lacey Evans possibly being added in some form) that doesn’t have much on the line. In short, this is a completely lame pay per view that might wind up being watchable due to the work, but that’s about all it has to offer.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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