WWE Elimination Chamber 2018: Preview and predictions

“Woken” Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt

What a difference a year makes. Last year at Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt was headlining the night as he pinned John Cena and AJ Styles within about five minutes of one another to win his first WWE Championship in a very good main event. This time around, he’s facing “Woken” Matt Hardy in yet another grudge match as part of a rivalry that’s really done nothing for me.

I’m not saying that there hasn’t been anything entertaining about this program, but it’s certainly not what I wanted it to be. When Matt was still “Broken” with TNA, he and Wyatt engaged in a hilariously glorious Twitter feud that we thought would never amount to anything, even when Matt and Jeff returned last year at WrestleMania. Without the gimmick, they were just going to do the Hardy Boyz thing for a while as Matt was still attempting to get the rights to this particular character. When Jeff went down with an injury and Matt was able to start acting the way he does, it made perfect sense for this feud with Wyatt to happen. Bray needed something to do and this made sense.

The problem here is this: In TNA, Matt Hardy had time to develop and showcase this character. He was near the top of the card and one of the more entertaining things in wrestling there for a minute. However, in WWE, he’s just another guy, and it’s not that entertaining. How many times are these two just going to laugh at one another? Sure, a few of the promos have been entertaining, but the level of darkness or weirdness or anything similar just hasn’t been there. It’s not their fault as they haven’t been given a crazy amount of time with this, but maybe I just wanted more.

Prediction: These two faced off on the 25th anniversary episode of RAW, with Wyatt picking up the victory pretty easily. They also battled on RAW back in late November, and Bray got the win there as well. Hardy likely picks up the win here to keep the feud going.