The Road to Wrestlemania is in full swing and Elimination Chamber 2025 — as it always does — will have massive implications for the Grand Daddy of Them All, The Showcase of the Immortals — Wrestlemania 41.
The show will air on Saturday March 1 for the Rogers Center in Toronto, Canada and will once again be a truncated card packed to the gills with high profile matches including the return of Toronto native Trish Stratus to the ring.
On this panel, Pop Break’s Editor-in-Chief Bill Bodkin is joined by Tyler Yasembousky — a member of BCP+ and a contributor to the Socially Distanced Podcast’s Kick-Off 2024 episode, to discuss one of the most high stakes WWE PLEs.
Men’s Elimination Chamber: John Cena vs. Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk vs. Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
Tyler’s Thoughts: What I want to happen and what I think will happen are two very different things. I want CM Punk to win this, then turn heel and become “Corporate Punk” aligning himself with the Rock once Cody Turns him down.
Tyler’s Prediction: John Cena wins and goes on to face Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania 41, the real question then becomes who turns? Cody or John?
Bill’s Thoughts: As per usual with the Chamber, there’s an equal amount of pretenders and contenders in this match. Logan Paul and Damien Priest have almost no shot to win here (you can never rule Logan Paul out) and while he deserves the world, I really can’t see Ol’ Drewski winning either. Monday Night Rollins is a perennial main eventer, but this also does not feel like his year. So it comes to down to Cena and Punk.
Bill’s Prediction: Sorry, Punker, this is also not your year. John Cena is going to Wrestlemania. The money is in him more than anyone else. It’s his retirement tour and he’s earned the right one last Mania main event. He’s also a media darling so he’s going to bring mainstream eyes to the match. Finally, why not have two of the biggest pure babyfaces (who both have refused to be heels despite the money being left on the table) of the past 25 years battling makes for interesting television.
Unsanctioned Match: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
Tyler’s Thoughts: I think this will be the match of the night. I can see this being brutal and the WWE letting these guys go all out!
Tyler’s Prediction: KO wins but Randy Orton returns after the match.
Bill’s Thoughts: Match of the night. Kevin is running the razor coast-to-coast once again. These two have had a long history of excellence and is for those of us who have been following these two since they were working the independents. If this is all setting up for a KO vs. Randy Orton match … please miss me with this.
Bill’s Prediction: Will be lock stop with Tyler on this one as well — KO for the W.
Tiffany Stratton & Trish Stratus vs. Nia Jax & Candice LaRae
Tyler’s Thoughts: This is the biggest throw away of the night and easiest match to predict.
Tyler’s Prediction: Trish & Tiffany win easily.
Bill’s Thoughts: This will be a fun match. Tiffany and Trish as a team will be a lot of fun. It’s wild that Tiffy has been such an effective babyface when she had such a run as a heel in NXT. Nia and Candice lining up as challengers for Liv & Raquel for the tag titles would actually be a good idea, but one of them would have to turn face. Charlotte is obviously coming out during this match at some point and will have something to say/do towards Tiffay.
Bill’s Prediction: Candice will obviously take the pin here. Team T&T for the W.
Women’s Elimination Chamber: Liv Morgan vs. Bianca Belair vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley vs. Naomi vs. Roxanne Perez
Tyler’s Thoughts: With the talent in this match, this might end up being the best women’s chamber match of all time.
Tyler’s Prediction: I think it comes down to Belair vs Bliss as the final two. With Belair winning in the end. Setting up a money match with Rhea Ripley.
Bill’s Thoughts: Tyler is right, this has “all-time” potential here. However, we’ve still got a contenders and pretenders situation here. Liv, despite being a former champ, just snagged the tag belts with Raquel and will likely keep them for a while. Bayley and Roxanne cancel each other out as they’ll likely be feuding for a while. Naomi and Bianca are interesting. Do we see dissension between the GLOW-est team? If Naomi goes heel (eventually), they’ve got to commit to putting a lot of creative behind her as she’s been saddled as a mid-card babyface for some time. Bianca is an easy answer because her and Rhea will have a great one.
Bill’s Prediction: I’m going for the dark horse pick and say Alexa Bliss. She’s extremely popular, and having two months of prep time for Mania will allow her to shake off the rust and build her feud with Rhea. WWE loves a spooky character and it’d be a fresh match for Rhea. While it’s a physical mismatch, there’s enough creative you can put behind it to sell the match.
Bonus Question: Does Cody Rhodes give his soul to The Rock?
Tyler: No, I think Cody turns him down. Cody will stay baby face, at least for now. Then the storyline will become who turns heel at WM; Cody Rhodes or John Cena.
Bill: Nope! Cody is not going heel just yet. We very well could see him crack under the pressure of the babyface vs. babyface match and then align with The Rock not unlike when Steve Austin joined forces with Vince McMahon at the end of Wrestlemania 17.
