WWE Elimination Chamber 2012 Preview: 13 Storylines That Need to Be Addressed

As the final pay-per-view before WrestleMania, WWE's Elimination Chamber event has always served as a pivotal date and a big turning point on the WWE calendar.

Rather than just being your typical B pay-per-view, Elimination Chamber is the show where long-running feuds culminate, loose ends are neatly tied up and things invariably kick up a notch in preparation for WM.

With this in mind, here are the 13 lingering storylines that need to be addressed at the event, which takes place on Feb. 19 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisc.

Kharma's Return

After her shock return at the Royal Rumble after several months off, Kia "Kharma" Stevens has been strangely absent from WWE television.

The commentators have not discussed her appearance at the pay-per-view, and she hasn't been mentioned at all by the other divas. It's almost as if her re-emergence at the RR never happened.

Hopefully, she returns to WWE full-time soon; the company's stale and stagnant women's division desperately needs her. And the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view might be the perfect time to do so. 

Ideally, the monster female heel could make her presence known during the rumoured Beth Phoenix/Tamina match on the show, and spark her long-talked about feud with Phoenix over the WWE Divas Championship.

Who Will Sheamus Face at WrestleMania?

Ever since his shock victory at last month's Royal Rumble, speculation has mounted to over whom Sheamus will choose to face in the WrestleMania main event.

Will he stick with his own brand and go after the World Heavyweight Champion (currently Daniel Bryan) or head over to Raw for CM Punk's WWE Championship? 

For his part, the Irishman has stated on recent episodes of Raw and Smackdown that he intends to keep his options open. He's likely waiting to see how things turn out at Elimination Chamber (both Punk and Bryan are defending their titles in matches on the show) before making a decision.

Hopefully we get a final answer from the Smackdown star about who he intends to face at WrestleMania before the EC pay-per-view goes off the air. 

What Is Going on with the Triple H-Undertaker Rematch?

Is the proposed rematch between The Undertaker and Triple H at WrestleMania actually happening?

Going by this week's episode of Raw, it seems The Undertaker is extremely eager—while he won their match last year, per the angle, he wants revenge for having to be out a year—and Triple H is unwilling, feeling Taker is worn-out, physically wrecked shell of himself. 

Of course, this being WWE, it's unlikely Undertaker will take no for an answer and he will end up getting his rematch with Triple H at WrestleMania, one way or another.

And there's a decent chance we will get some follow up or continuation to the angle between the pair at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, possibly with Taker making a re-appearance to make his case for another match. 

Is the Punk/Laurinaitis Angle Over?

Since the Royal Rumble, where Raw GM John Laurinaitis did not actually screw CM Punk out of the WWE Championship despite heavy speculation going into the event that he would, the Punk/Laurinaitis battles seem to have been largely forgotten.

Laurinaitis is struggling with Triple H to keep his job with as general manager of Raw and Punk is focusing on trying to escape from his Elimination Chamber match with his WWE Title.

So, is Laurinaitis still out to get to Punk? Well, maybe the EC pay-per-view, and John's possible involvement in the main event, will give us an indication as to whether this angle is still going on. 

Will Beth Phoenix Find a New Challenger to Her Divas Championship?

Beth Phoenix has arrogantly proclaimed in recent interviews that she has beaten everyone there is to beat in WWE women's division and is out of challengers.

She insists she is going to be champion "forever" and is the most dominant women's champion in history.

Hmmm. I wonder if Tamina (who has tangled with Beth on recent episodes of Smackdown) and Kharma will have any problems with these statements? 

And, who knows? They make their issues with Beth known at Elimination Chamber.

Will the Abysmal Kane/Cena Feud Ever End?

Most fans will agree: The Kane/Cena program on Raw has to have been one of the worst feuds in WWE's long history.

It has featured some atrocious acting (let's hope Eve Torres never decides to embark on a Hollywood acting career), ridiculous angles (poor Zack Ryder almost got dragged to Hell), tarnished the careers of everyone involved with it and, on top of everything, makes no sense whatsoever (just why is Kane so bothered about Cena's relationship with the fans?).  

Thankfully, though, John Cena is set to face off with his frequent foe in an ambulance match that is widely expected to be the blow-off off to this storyline as Cena gears up for his match with The Rock at WrestleMania. 

We desperately hope this is the case, anyway, because it remains to be seen how much more anyone can take of this truly rotten feud.

Will AJ See Through Daniel Bryan?

Poor AJ Lee must be the most gullible woman in wrestling history.

Even though it's incredibly obvious to everyone, including WWE announcer Michael Cole who lectured her last week on Smackdown about her personal life, that her boyfriend Daniel Bryan is just using and exploiting her feelings for him to hold onto the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, she remains as blindly in love as ever.

No doubt, Bryan will even try and get her to help him at the pay-per-view, putting her in harm's way once again. 

But by the time the Elimination Chamber rolls around, will she have seen the light and have wised up to her man's dastardly behaviour?

In which case, Bryan's continued use of her at ringside could backfire spectacularly, and she could end up turning on him and costing him the title, much to the delight of the fans in attendance.

We'll have to wait and see.

Where Is Alberto Del Rio?

Former WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio was written out of storylines in late December after suffering a groin injury in a tag match. He is reportedly returning to action on house shows imminently, but has yet to re-emerge on WWE television or have his return advertised on Raw.

Maybe WWE will want to hold off the Mexican star's TV debut and have him make a shock appearance at the Elimination Chamber? 

Can Daniel Bryan Continue to Hold on to the Title and Head into WrestleMania?

Since winning the title at the TLC pay-per-view, the World Heavyweight Champion has managed to overcome all the odds and hold onto his title.

Indeed, over the past couple of months, the smaller-than-average Bryan has taken on giants like Mark Henry and The Big Show in various matches, sometimes at the same time, and emerged bloody but victorious, much to the shock of everyone, including obnoxious WWE commentator Michael Cole, who continues to hate his guts.

It would almost be inspirational were he not, you know, a clear heel.

But can the weaselly Bryan continue his winning steak and escape from the Smackdown elimination chamber match with his belt? We'll have to wait and see. But knowing the conniving Byran, he'll surely find a way.

Where Is The Rock?

With his program against John Cena due to start imminently, fans should expect "The Great One" to make an appearance on WWE screens soon. 

A shock, unadvertised appearance at Elimination Chamber to hype up his WrestleMania match with Cena, likely via satellite, may not be entirely out of the question, either.

Where Is Chris Jericho's Character Going?

Since his much-talked about, much-hyped debut on the Jan. 2 Raw, there has been a great deal of speculation about where exactly Chris Jericho's character is going. 

Even now that he is talking again (after a month or so of saying absolutely nothing and just smiling at everyone) and clearly has it out for the babyface WWE Champion CM Punk, making him a definite heel, we're still not entirely sure what entirely Jericho's motives are or if we have had the full story revealed to us.

What were those spooky "It Begins" videos meant to represent anyway? Does he, as many speculated, have a female helper of sorts (whom many believed the girl in the video was meant to symbolize).

In many ways, his character is as enigmatic ever. Maybe his appearance at the Elimination Chamber, and a possible title victory in the Raw Elimination Chamber match with the aid of some shocking outside interference, possibly from Stephanie McMahon, may help clear things up?  

Can Kofi Kingston Remain a Relevant Part of the Raw Main Event Scene?

Kofi Kingston has had a weird time of it in recent months. First, his troubled tag team partner Evan Bourne foolishly fails his second drug test in under three months setting back Kofi as well as himself.

Then poor Kofi found himself languishing on the C show Superstars, and next thing you know, due to a very shallow talent roster, he's in the main event of the Elimination Chamber!

Wow. Talk about a fluctuating career.

A huge underdog the six-man bout, Kofi has absolutely no chance of winning, of course (unless the WWE booking team really feel like hugely swerving everyone) but a strong showing in Raw's elimination chamber match could ensure the high-flyer a more prominent role on the red brand in the future.

Certainly, a return to Superstars after the event is over would be a terrible waste of his considerable talents.

Is The Great Khali Going to Remain a Part of the Smackdown Main Event Scene?

Oh, God. We hope not.