2023 WWE Elimination Chamber Predictions Including Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar And Rhea Ripley

I have a lot of feelings about Elimination Chamber, and this year's version is a good reminder of how mixed they can be. On the one hand, I absolutely, positively love the gimmick of the match. I love that superstars emerge from the pod one at a time and you don't know the order. I love how many unusual and creative things you can do inside the cage. I love the whole thing. I'm not saying it's The Royal Rumble, but I look forward to it every single year.

On the other hand, there's always something weird about the premium live event before WrestleMania. Because they're already advertising the biggest of the shows, it can sometimes feel like the appetizer for the main event. It's the last chance for WWE's writers to move some of the pieces around on a big stage; so, if it's not done right, it can feel like the first half of a performance.

That being said, there is a lot to be excited about here. Sami Zayn is the hottest character in wrestling in a long time, and he'll be trying to win the belts off Roman Reigns in front of his own home crowd, which is going to be LOUD. In addition, instead of getting the Elimination Chamber matches for the major titles, the men's is for the United States Championship and the women's is for a title shot at 'Mania, which means the results are harder to predict.

Fortunately, I'm on a hot streak. I successfully predicted every match at The 2023 Royal Rumble, and since that's the only premium live event so far this year, I'm undefeated in 2023! Here's a look at my results...

I can't promise I'll go undefeated here, but here are my best guesses as to what is about to happen at Elimination Chamber, which airs free in The United States with a Peacock subscription. 

Elimination Chamber Match For The United States Championship Featuring Austin Theory (Champion), Seth Freakin’ Rollins, Johnny Gargano, Damian Priest, Bronson Reed And Montez Ford

First of all, I love The United States Championship being defended in The Elimination Chamber. Triple H has done a fantastic job of elevating The US Championship and The Intercontinental Championship, and this is just the latest example. Plus, this allows for so many more options to put in there. There are only so many guys on the roster who could believably make sense for a Chamber match with one or both of the big belts on the line, but by making it a US Championship match, suddenly everyone in the mid-card is available. 

And as you can see, WWE took full advantage of their options and picked some very unexpected participants. Let’s start by eliminating the ones I don’t think have any chance starting with Montez Ford. I love The Street Profits, and this has the potential to be a showcase for Ford’s almost unlimited potential. I expect to see him do a frog splash off the top of the cage. I expect a handful of other wild spots. If he does well, it could be the catalyst for WWE breaking up The Street Profits and taking him solo, but that would almost certainly be done through an extended tag team break-up story, not an immediate jump to a WrestleMania solo match, which would come with winning this match. 

Plus, I still think he needs a little seasoning. He has all the talent in the world, but in my opinion, he sells in a mid-to-late-90s Shawn Michaels type way that looks obnoxious and is designed to get himself over. Add in his tendency, in my opinion, to make too many faces and go too big in every promo, and I think he needs a little more work before he’s main event material. Huge upside though. Still love the dude.

We can probably eliminate Bronson Reed and Johnny Gargano too. Neither one of these guys is over on the main roster. With all due respect to what Gargano did in NXT, his crowd reactions on the main roster are terrible. He may have gotten the single worst response when his music hit of anyone in The Men’s Rumble. And Bronson Reed has gotten even less during his handful of appearances. Triple H clearly likes both guys and is going to use Elimination Chamber to try and show fans their potential. I hope it works, but having either win would be way too much way too soon. Big results need to follow positive fan response. Not the other way around.

So, that leaves us Theory, Rollins and Damian Priest. Rollins is clearly the biggest star, but I think he’s almost certainly going to battle Logan Paul at WrestleMania, which shouldn’t be for the title since Logan Paul is still part-time. I’m really high on Damian Priest and Judgment Day. I’d love to see him get another run with a mid-card title, and it certainly seems like Triple H sees a lot of potential, given he went way over thirty minutes in that semi-recent multi-team tag match on Raw, but Austin Theory vs John Cena for the US Championship, given Cena’s long history with the belt and all the rumors last year about these two fighting, just makes so much sense. I think he’ll walk out the winner.

Predicted Winner: Austin Theory

Elimination Chamber Match For A Shot At Bianca Belair’s Raw Women’s Championship At WrestleMania Featuring Asuka, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Natalya, Carmella And Nikki Cross

There’s going to be a ton to take away from this match, but to me, the most important one is what Triple H really thinks of Asuka. She’s been stuck in the mud a bit since she was injured at Money In The Bank back in 2021. She was put in a key spot at Hell In The Cell after her return in 2022 and briefly won the tag titles with Alexa Bliss, but there have also been periods where she wasn’t really used or was simply used as back-up for Bianca Belair. She returned at The Rumble to great fanfare and a new look. If Triple H wants to push her, now is the time by having her win this match and get a prime singles championship opportunity at ‘Mania, which would further solidify her as one of the top female stars in WWE. So, if the writers consider Asuka one of the top three or four women in the company, she really needs to win here.

But that’s a big question mark. They clearly value Asuka, but if they valued her so highly, why did Liv Morgan last longer than her at The Rumble? I think it’s an open question as to whether they want her to return to the absolute top of the division, and if they do not, there are plenty of other options here, most prominently Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Morgan obviously had her big moment last year when she took the belt off Ronda at Money In The Bank. Fans still seem pretty behind her, but she hasn’t really been used in a main event way recently (see her submitting to Asuka on Raw). Raquel Rodriguez is clearly very talented and has tremendous potential, but she’s only over-ish with the fans. She needs a wrinkle to her personality or a compelling storyline to get to the next level.

A case could be made that maybe there’s potential to put Carmella in a prime WrestleMania spot, but I just don’t see it. The crowd reaction since her return has been nice enough. People still enjoy booing her, but I don’t think there’s enough buzz there for a singles match at ‘Mania, especially not one for the title. And with all due respect to Natalya and Nikki Cross, nothing about their presentations over the last year point to them winning an Elimination Chamber match. So, I gotta go with Asuka, though I think Morgan and Rodriguez are still in play.

Predicted Winner: Asuka

Edge And Beth Phoenix Vs Finn Bálor And Rhea Ripley

The history of wrestling tells us Edge and Beth Phoenix should win this match, just based on how this storyline has played out. Edge, an absolute legend who probably doesn’t have much time left, lost to Finn Bálor at Extreme Rules thanks to interference from The Judgment Day attacking his wife, Beth Phoenix, who is a legend in her own right. Obviously Edge should swoop in and get his vengeance, right? The person whose wife got attacked needs to win the feud, right? Well, maybe, but it’s actually more complicated than that.

I think The Judgment Day has all the potential to be wrestling’s next big stable. Rhea Ripley is fantastic and should beat Charlotte Flair and win The Smackdown Women’s Championship at ‘Mania. Finn Bálor and Damian Priest both have fantastic looks, are excellent workers in the ring and can handle themselves reasonably well on the microphone. And Dominik Mysterio is maybe the most hateable character on television today (and I say that as a compliment). Everything is there if WWE wants to start pushing really, really hard, and I think they should. I’d be stoked to see a future in which Rhea has one of the women’s big belts, Priest and Bálor have the tag titles and Dominik Mysterio is interfering in all their matches. 

So, no offense to Edge and Beth Phoenix, who are, to reiterate, legends, but the better long-term move, at least to me, is for them to put The Judgment Day over. That’s what I would like to see happen, but I’m really torn because I’m not sure that’s going to happen. It’s also hard to predict because there’s a real possibility Edge and Finn Bálor end up finishing this feud at WrestleMania, in which case it doesn’t really matter who wins here. I think the safer bet is to choose Edge and Beth Phoenix, but I think Triple H sees something in The Judgment Day and is gonna continue their push.

Predicted Winner: The Judgment Day

Bobby Lashley Vs Brock Lesnar

Can someone explain to me why this isn’t happening at WrestleMania? You’d certainly think these two are going to be on the ‘Mania card, but if they’re not fighting each other, that means there’s only about six weeks to set up another feud for each person. Is that really enough time to do something more compelling than giving us Brock and Lashley round three? I doubt it. That’s why some online are convinced they’ll just run this back at ‘Mania, but as much as I love these dudes, I’m not really sure I’m that hyped about seeing them fight at a premium live event for a fourth time in a year and a half. 

Whatever. Let’s put that aside and talk it out, as if we’re just picking a winner of the rubber match here. Lashley is quite popular with the crowd, who have still been mostly cheering him despite his attempts to turn heel, but he’s not Brock Lesnar popular. The Beast might only be part-time, but he’s still among the most over guys on the entire roster. To keep him that way, it’s important WWE protect him against everyone but the absolute top top guys. So, it was okay for him to lose to Roman Reigns at ‘Mania, but it should still be assumed he’s gonna win almost every time he steps into the ring.

Back at the ‘22 Royal Rumble, Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar, but that was a screwy thing where Paul Heyman turned on him. They wrestled again at Crown Jewel back in November, and Lesnar won, though he looked really weak doing it. More recently, Lashley eliminated Brock Lesnar from The Rumble, and they’ve traded various attacks on each other in the time since. I’d like to see Lesnar come out on top here. I think he needs the victory a bit more, but we may get some MVP/ reunion of The Hurt Business shenanigans. I hope it comes after the match and leads into a slightly repackaged Lashley at ‘Mania, but it could happen mid-match and give him the victory.

Predicted Winner: Brock Lesnar

Roman Reigns Vs Sami Zayn For The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

Sami Zayn has been on a heater for the last six months, to the point where he’s probably the most popular wrestler on the entire roster right now, at least among hardcore fans. The build has happened very organically and one great promo at a time. Throw in the fact that Elimination Chamber is happening in his hometown of Montreal, and the fans are going to be rabid. In fact, there’s a strong chance this could be the single loudest crowd of the entire year. And they’re overwhelmingly going to be rooting for Sami.

But is Sami Zayn really going to be the one to knock off Roman Reigns? Is someone with a career losing record in WWE really gonna break this multi-year winning streak? The same dude who lost to Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania last year?  Well, Sami asked himself that very same thing in his terrific promo opposite Cody Rhodes on Raw this week, and I think a lot of fans are asking themselves the same thing. 

The truth is I don’t think so. I love Sami Zayn. I would cheer my head off if he beat Roman Reigns, but to me, a victory doesn’t make sense in the storyline. Cody Rhodes vs Sami Zayn would feel so random at WrestleMania, given they’ve interacted all of one time so far, and it would also leave the Sami and Roman storyline hanging for awhile when it’s been the clear number one plot for almost a year. So, no. I think it’ll be an incredible match. I think we’ll get some great hope spots. I think whatever happens will push us toward either Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs The Usos or Sami Zayn & Jey Uso vs Jimmy Uso and Solo at WrestleMania. But regardless, I think Roman is walking out of there with the belt.

Predicted Winner: Roman Reigns