WWE Elimination Chamber 2012: 3 Things WWE Must Do to Build Toward WrestleMania

There is no question that Elimination Chamber is its own pay-per-view and should be treated as such, but wrestling fans can't help but think of it as is the last hurdle before WrestleMania. With that in mind, what happens at Elimination Chamber could have a huge bearing on the biggest event of the year.

What happens in the Chamber matches will determine the world title matches at WrestleMania, and there are plenty of other things that could change as well. Elimination Chamber could certainly throw a wrench into the four main-event matches.

Here are three things that must happen during Sunday's event to effectively build toward WrestleMania.

Daniel Bryan Retains World Heavyweight Championship

The general feeling regarding Daniel Bryan's run with the World Heavyweight Championship has been split. Some, including myself, believe that his evolution into a weasel-like heel willing to do anything to retain his title has been fantastic. Others are unimpressed, however, and believe that he should be a stand-up champion who gets the job done with wrestling skill alone.

Whatever the case, Bryan has been entertaining and he deserves to hold the title going into WrestleMania.

All signs point to Royal Rumble winner Sheamus choosing to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship, so Bryan makes perfect sense as an opponent. Randy Orton is a possibility in a major face vs. face battle, but it's more likely that Sheamus will face a heel.

None of the other heels in the match are ready to hold the title, so Bryan has to be the choice. Not only will he finally have to prove that he can beat a big man like Sheamus cleanly, but these two had a match bumped from last year's 'Mania, so that creates an interesting story in itself. 

John Cena "Embraces Hate" vs. Kane

The feud between John Cena and Kane is nearing its conclusion, and will likely come to a head at Elimination Chamber.

The two will face off in an ambulance match, which makes it feel as if it will be the big blow off to the rivalry. Kane has continually tormented Cena and his friends in an effort to get Cena to embrace hate.

It has yet to be explained why Kane is so adamant, but for this storyline to mean anything, Cena has to embrace hate to some extent at Elimination Chamber.

By embracing hate, I don't mean that Cena should or will turn heel, but he does need to add an edge to his character. Kane has continually beaten up Zack Ryder and even set a trap that caused Eve to kiss Cena with Ryder as a witness. The premise is that Kane has caused Cena's life to fall apart all around him, so Cena has to make Kane pay on Sunday.

That means that he has to destroy the Big Red Monster by any means necessary and win the match convincingly. This will make Cena look a lot more serious heading into his WrestleMania match with The Rock. 

Chris Jericho Wins WWE Championship

The Elimination Chamber has been touted as the most unpredictable match in WWE, so if both world champions retain for the second year in a row, it will begin to lose some of its luster.

Since I believe that Daniel Bryan needs to retain, that means that the RAW Chamber match is where a title change needs to happen.

There are only two possible winners in this match: incumbent champion CM Punk and Chris Jericho. It's almost a foregone conclusion that they will face off at WrestleMania, so it makes sense to give Y2J the strap.

Both Punk and Jericho claim that they are each the best wrestler in the world, but since Punk has the title, Jericho's case is flimsy. For that reason, he needs to come out on top Sunday and carry the title into WrestleMania. Truth be told, Punk is more compelling as a chaser of a championship than as the champion himself, so it will enhance the feud.

The expectation is that Jericho will put Punk over at 'Mania and having Punk win the title rather than retain it will be the much more special.