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FREE £ Express Newspapers Offer FDS1110. ONE man took centre stage as WWE put the final pieces in place for Elimination Chamber this weekend.
Just as we saw Irish hero Finn Balor become star of the Royal Rumble in January, Monday night saw the turn of Seth Rollins to show us just how good he is.
The ex-world champion is one of those lucky people with far more than his fair share of ability.
He has been simmering recently in The Shield reboot and latterly holding the hand of Jason Jordan.
Power
Jordan has had neck surgery so is probably out of Wrestlemania in a poor piece of timing after his recent prominence on TV.
Of course, Sunday’s show will provide us with Brock Lesnar’s opponent for Wrestlemania, so Rollins’ virtuoso performance and defeat of both Roman Reigns and John Cena was a reminder of just how highly he is valued.
There is little Rollins can’t do and he has shown his prowess as champion in the past, so despite concrete plans for Roman Reigns to wrestle Lesnar at the big one being in place for over a year, WWE will be tempted to shuffle the deck at the weekend.
Beating Reigns and Cena in one evening is no small achievement and was intended to sow seeds of doubt. Everyone is expecting Reigns to win in the Chamber and book his showdown with Lesnar.
Of course, seven men are in the Chamber match, which means the power tools will be out on the structure, unless they choose to start with three in the ring at once in a triple threat. Balor, Miz and Rollins all have concrete claims – the Irishman never lost his Universal title after all.
Speaking of which, we could well see Strowman involved at Mania in keeping with the recent policy of stacking the big men together in demolition derbies to protect all concerned. He’s also on a meteoric rise in the fans’ eyes and would be a far more popular champion than Roman.
For the first time, we will see a Women’s Chamber match too, which should be interesting. Asuka is the opponent at Mania, she wrestles Nia Jax on Sunday and it’s hard to see the undefeated streak being sacrificed now. A DQ win for Jax is a possibility to set up a triple threat in New Orleans. Alexa Bliss should keep the title.
And, of course, we have Ronda Rousey signing on the dotted line before what is hoped will be a tag match at Mania with herself and AN Other against Triple H and Stephanie.
Rock is the marquee choice but is unlikely to be available or allowed to wrestle but Angle, or even that man Rollins might be a runner.