WWE Elimination Chamber 2017: Full Match Card Predictions After Royal Rumble

Don't bemoan WWE's WrestleMania plans for The Miz, Baron Corbin and others just yet. Royal Rumble hinted at what the marquee event will have in store, but little is firmly set. WWE Elimination Chamber 2017 will provide a chance to shuffle the SmackDown deck ahead of The Showcase of the Immortals.

AJ Styles' loss at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday left him without the WWE Championship in his hands for the first time since last September. He and four other challengers will look to make John Cena's 16th world title reign a short one.

On Feb. 12, The Phenomenal One will climb inside the ominous steel structure that gives the Elimination Chamber PPV its name.

Who else will battle on the SmackDown-exclusive show? Who will step up to the blue brand's champs?

Royal Rumble provided several hints of what's to come. As did the latest happenings on SmackDown. Picking apart the current storylines and projecting their narrative arcs moving forward give us a solid picture of what the Elimination Chamber card will look like.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Apollo Crews

Unless WWE is going to brave sending a 67-year-old Jerry Lawler into the ring, Apollo Crews will be the man to stand up to the new bully on the block.

Dolph Ziggler's recent losses have transformed him. He's angry, relentless and doesn't care who he steps on to get to where he wants to be. Crews is one of the men The Showoff has crunched in his path of late.

And when Ziggler has gone on a rampage on SmackDown, attacking the likes of Kalisto or Lawler, it's often been Crews who has played the cavalry.

Battling a former world champ will be a major chance for Crews to showcase his skills after a disappointing 2016. Ziggler, meanwhile, will be the central figure in a midcard story.

This is just the kind of high-energy bout WWE will need to properly fill out the Elimination Chamber card.

Nikki Bella vs. Natalya

The smart move would be to pit six foes against each other in the first women's Elimination Chamber match. As much as WWE has broken ground with its women's division in the past two years, though, the company may not be ready to make that step.

Instead, the SmackDown PPV will host the personal war between Nikki Bella and Natalya.

After Natalya admitted to attacking Bella at Survivor Series, these wrestlers have been at each other's throats. They can't be in the same building without a brawl breaking out. They have fought backstage, at the merchandise stand and at ringside.

This has to lead to an all-out battle between the former Divas champs, likely in a Street Fight or Falls County Anywhere contest.

Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi (SmackDown Women's Championship)

WWE made it clear what it had in mind for Naomi moments into her return from injury.

The athletic dynamo issued an open challenge on the Jan. 24 edition of SmackDown. The women's champ emerged to trash-talk Naomi, hinting at a program between the two.

These wrestlers have had issues before. While Bliss was waiting around for her title match with Becky Lynch last fall, Naomi stepped in as a stopgap rival.

Their feud looks fully ready to take off again. Naomi pinned Bliss in six-woman tag team action at Royal Rumble. That usually signals a title shot for the wrestler who gets the pinfall. 

So while WWE will hold off on Mickie James vs. Lynch for WrestleMania, it will offer a clash of rising stars at Elimination Chamber.

American Alpha vs. The Usos (SmackDown Tag Team Championship)

This is the feud that never got fully started last year.

The Usos hobbled Chad Gable during the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament. American Alpha promised payback, but other stories got in the way.

Now that Gable and Jason Jordan are on top of the SmackDown tag team heap, the obvious move would be to revisit their rivalry with Jimmy and Jey Uso.

The Usos are the most viable heel contenders anyway. WWE has run Breezango, The Ascension and The Vaudevillains into the ground. Unless one of those duos gets a hurried repair job, The Usos will be the ones vying for American Alpha's titles.

Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin (Intercontinental Championship)

Tension has been building between Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin for some time.

The Lone Wolf's issues with the IC champ led to an altercation on the final SmackDown before Royal Rumble. During Ambrose and The Miz's Lumberjack match that night, Corbin and The Lunatic Fringe traded blows.

Corbin tried to smash Ambrose during the match, but he wasn't able to finish the job.

That WWE chose Corbin as the man to oust the seemingly unbeatable Braun Strowman from the Royal Rumble match points to the fact the company is fully behind him. His push is sure to continue, granting him a shot at Ambrose's title.

Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Championship

John Cena vs. AJ Styles vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Luke Harper vs. The Miz vs. Tye Dillinger

SmackDown's commissioner, Shane McMahon, announced weeks ago that Elimination Chamber would host a WWE Championship match inside its signature structure. After the Rumble, John Clapp of WWE.com noted that Styles is confirmed for that bout.

That leaves four spots to fill.

All signs are pointing to The Wyatt Family imploding en route to WrestleMania. Wyatt makes far more sense as Orton's opponent at that event than Cena, so WWE may set that bout up via the Elimination Chamber.

Harper's recent issues with Wyatt make him a lock to follow The Eater of Worlds into that fray. At Royal Rumble, Harper attacked both Wyatt and Orton, making it clear he's done with the group. That will spill over into the next PPV.

The Miz has earned a main event spot with a career year in 2016. He's sure to be in contention as a result. Plus, when McMahon made the initial announcement, The Miz was front and center during that segment, as he demanded to be a part of the upcoming title bout.

Tye Dillinger is the wild card here. It's not clear whether his Royal Rumble debut was a one-off appearance or a call-up. If he is indeed on the main roster and the blue brand picks him up, he would be a fun addition to the action.