If you’re one of the many long-time WWE fans who are preparing to get the WWE Network on Monday, don’t make the mistake of thinking you can skip the 2014 Elimination Chamber PPV on Sunday. The replay of this event isn’t going to be available on the Network for at least 30 days, so you’ll need to either order the live PPV from your cable or satellite provider (unless you have DISH – sorry about that) or go to your local sports bar that airs WWE events to watch. This event follows up on the entertaining 2014 Royal Rumble PPV, where Batista competed in and WON the over the top battle royal to earn himself a title shot at WrestleMania 30. WWE needs to keep Batista active between now and then to remind fans why he has a chance to win at New Orleans, so they’ve booked a feud between Batista and former world champion Alberto Del Rio, who refers to Batista as a “perro” every chance he gets. Batista is the heavy favorite at -4500, which is as you’d expect given he’s headed into a major program at Mania. That might make the long odds on Del Rio at +1500 seem tempting, but I wouldn’t buy in on that at any price, because WWE put Batista over in his first match back at the Rumble for a reason. His momentum is going to continue for a long time to come. Speaking of momentum, Big E (now sans Langston) doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon, having held the Intercontinental Title since the November 18th episode of Raw last year. He’s a -2750 favorite with the oddsmakers to retain his belt, with challenger Jack Swagger being a +1250. I have to stress again that if you’re going to put money on this match, you might as well play the favorite. There’s no compelling reason to take the title off Big E with WrestleMania 30 coming up soon, and Swagger has not been built up well enough as a challenger for him to take the strap off him. Titus O’Neil (-2750) is also a heavy favorite over former tag team partner Darren Young (+1250). It’s easy to read the writing on the wall here – O’Neil is a guy who based on his size and look WWE wants to push as a monster heel. Cementing the break-up of the Prime Time Players furthers his credentials as a bad ass, but they’ll need to figure out something to do with him quick after Sunday’s match. The can’t lose option seems in theory to be Cody Rhodes and Goldust (-6000) over Curtis Axel and Ryback (+2000) in the pre-show match. This is a case where I’d lay a little juice on the longshot though because WWE cares so little about pre-show matches that they could just call an audible and have the heels go over, especially if they want to have Rhodes and his brother feud going forward. It’s not a “bet the farm” line, but there’s a good reason to play it. The counter argument to playing the long odds is that WWE wants the babyfaces to go over on the pre-show so that the crowd is happy when the live PPV goes to air. As for the Chamber itself, Orton is a -2500 favorite to retain his title, which again makes sense given the impending Batista vs. Orton confrontation at WrestleMania 30. The field is -999999 in a bet against ANYBODY ELSE WINNING, which is presumably as high as the odds can go. Don’t do it. As always this preview is for entertainment purpose, and please wager only what you can afford.
