The Road to WrestleMania 39 has already kicked off with the Royal Rumble victories of Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley. But before we get to see the respective Men's and Women's 2023 Royal Rumble matches, the WWE Raw and Smackdown rosters will take a trip to the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for its February PLE (Premium Live Event). The 2023 Elimination Chamber event, which is set to take place on February 18th, will feature two matches within the Chamber itself. And the championships that'll be on the line are the WWE United States Championship and the WWE Raw Women's Championship. Those two bouts and many more are set to make this year's installment of the annual WWE show one of the most important to date. So now let's get into my WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 predictions before the big show takes place.
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WWE Elimination Chamber 2023: Matches and Predictions
WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 Predictions
Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar
Preview & Predictions: These two monsters are currently tied up at 1-1. With an assist from Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley got the first W over Brock Lesnar back at the 2022 Royal Rumble. Then at last year's Crown Jewel, Brock walked away with the victory after a shockingly short match. Once the new year began, both men got back to trying to maim each other in the 2023 Royal Rumble. Bobby's out-of-nowhere elimination of Brock has led us to their third meeting inside the squared circle, which is a match I'm hoping will finally meet the high expectations I've held for both men since they've crossed paths.
For some reason though, my gut is telling me we're going to get a non-finish here - a match of this magnitude belongs on the WrestleMania stage, which is I'm predicting that Bobby and Brock will kick each other's asses to the point where the ref loses control and calls for the bell to end all their unrelenting chaos. The true tiebreaker between these two destroyers will come at WrestleMania 39. And a Last Man Standing match makes the most sense for a fitting ending to this war between WWE's most dominant big men.
Austin Theory (c) vs. Seth "Freakin" Rollins vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Montez Ford (Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE United States Championship)
Preview & Predictions: BANGER ALERT! Not only are we getting six of the most talented midcard talents on Raw all in one match, but we're going to watch them duke it out over the Red Brand's largest prize at the moment. Austin Theory truly has his work cut out for him here - he has to try and defend his US Championship against the towering Damian Priest, the powerhouse known as Bronson Reed, the crafty indie veterans named Johnny Gargano & Seth "Freakin" Rollins, and the wildcard entrant Montez Ford. I'm very much looking forward to this Elimination Chamber match exceeding my expectations and being the best match of the night.
So how do I see this match going? Well for one, I think Theory's dropping the strap here! And why do I feel that way? I feel like those rumors circulating around Theory getting a match with his hero John Cena at WrestleMania 39 are legit and I don't think Theory needs the US Championship attached to him when that one goes down. I'm actually envisioning a closing stretch where the match's last two remaining participants will be Bronson Reed and Montez Ford. This final faceoff will obviously be put in place to showcase Ford as a future singles superstar and legitimatize Reed as the dominating force he's being advertised as. Ford will put up a good fight and look amazing in defeat, but he'll eventually succumb to Reed's "Tsunami" top rope splash. Big Reed is my pick for the winner here!
Edge and Beth Phoenix vs. The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley)
Preview & Predictions: How long has this feud been running now? I've lost count of all the back-and-forth beatdowns between the former Judgment Day stable leader and his former dark brethren. Even still, I'm interested in how this Mixed Tag Team Match will unfold and impact the WrestleMania 39 match card. I'm placing all my chips on Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley eking out a win in a screwy fashion that'll cause this beef to continue and get its proper blowoff at WWE's biggest show of the year. Ripley's on her way to women's championship run back with Charlotte Flair at 'Mania 39, so she has to continue to look strong here. I think Ripley's gonna get the win for her team by taking out Beth Phoenix. As for Bálor and Edge, their unfinished business here will most likely lead to them having a major matchup on the 'Mania card to wrap things up for good.
Asuka vs. Liv Morgan vs. Nikki Cross vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya vs. Carmella (Elimination Chamber Match for a WWE Raw Women's Championship Match at WrestleMania 39)
Preview & Predictions: As soon as I witnessed Ripley pull off the biggest win of her career by emerging as the 2023 Women's Royal Rumble victor, I figured she'd choose Bianca Belair as her future 'Mania 39 foe. To my surprise, Ripley ended up selecting the SmackDown Women's Champion instead to get revenge for her loss to Charlotte at 'Mania 36. So now that leaves the field open for these six contenders to fight it out amongst themselves to earn a shot at Belair and her Raw Women's Championship.
Now when I look at the lay of the land for this bout's participants, only one sticks out to me as a bonafide winner. And that winner is clearly the face-painted killer that made her welcome return during the 2023 Women's Royal Rumble, Asuka. I've been following Asuka ever since her days in Japan spent as the cunning and uber-violent "Kana." To see her revert back to her familiar ways was one of the coolest moments of the whole Rumble event. Raquel Rodriguez would make for a fun challenger to Belair since they're both powerhouses. But I feel like WWE wants to take advantage of all the renewed interest in Asuka right now and get her on the 'Mania 39 card against Belair.
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Sami Zayn (Undisputed WWE Universal Championship)
Preview & Predictions: Man, The Bloodline storyline is clearly the hottest thing going on in all of WWE and wrestling today! The final moments of the Royal Rumble show produced one of the most heartbreaking moments between WWE's prominent stable - Sami Zayn got destroyed right alongside his forever friend/foe Kevin Owens by three of the very same people he once looked to as his "family." Now the crowd is fully behind Zayn as a super babyface that's finally getting a one-on-one title match with the dominant "Tribal Chief." Emotions are gonna run high and the crowd is gonna be fully behind Zayn since this show will be taking place in front of his home province/country's crowd of Quebec, Canada.
I can already see how this one will go down - Zayn will have Reigns on the ropes after a ref bump. All of a sudden, Jey Uso will finally pop back up from his hiatus and lead everyone to believe that he's here to help his "Ucey" brother Zayn win the match. But he'll swerve us all and reunite with the fam by super-kicking Zayn. This will ultimately result in Reigns recovering and spearing Zayn to retain his titles. The post-match beatdown that'll follow will bring a tear to my eye, I just know it. I'm sure my mood will pick up when this moment happens - for my final bit of WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 predictions, I'm calling a Kevin Owens appearance that'll lead to Zayn getting saved and resulting in a big embrace between both men.