Randy Orton's Elimination Chamber Win Delivered the Swerve WWE Desperately Needed

WWE had a chance to revitalize some fading WrestleMania 42 hype during Saturday's Elimination Chamber. 

Overall, the PLE was rough, to put it kindly, but one good thing trumped everything else: Randy Orton is going to WrestleMania for a title bout. 

Predictable, but needed. The Viper won the men's Elimination Chamber match, securing the right to challenge for the Undisputed WWE Championship at 'Mania. 

That strap is currently around Drew McIntyre's waist, hence his interference in the main event and playing a role in the outcome: 

Nick Aldis, general manager of SmackDown, then hit the PLE post-show to set up Rhodes-McIntyre in a title match on Friday's edition of the blue brand. 

Translated: WWE wants a little intrigue about the main event at WrestleMania, but fans can tell it will be a Triple Threat, if not a Fatal 4-Way. 

Which is…fine. 

Remember, in the days leading up to Elimination Chamber, WrestleVotes (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats) reported on "panic" within WWE about WrestleMania. Ticket sales don't sound so hot, the buzz seems low, and questions around the card mean the marketing department can't even fully advertise the event yet. 

Orton winning isn't exactly break-glass-in-case-of-emergency stuff. He's always been lingering as a possibility. He's beloved. He's chasing history. Yet he's not going to push the needle and reel in the casuals to save ticket sales. That's reserved for things like The Rock. 

WWE just doesn't have anything like that right now. A Chicago crowd that should be friendly to Danhausen even wound up booing the silly what's in the box? reveal. No Chris Jericho walking through that door. 

The predictability of it all hurts:

• LA Knight wasn't getting the win, with the cringe-worthy botch in the match more proof of why he might have hit a ceiling. 
• The overall men's match wasn't very good. Entrances felt longer than the contest itself.
• A multi-man title match at 'Mania was easy to see coming. 
• CM Punk wasn't losing by any means, let alone with the Jordan treatment. 
• AJ Lee wasn't losing in Chicago on this night, either. 

To WWE's credit, it can tell some really compelling stories between Rhodes and Orton. There's not a lot of time to do so and guys like McIntyre will get in the way a bit. But it's there. 

Some of this is just a trickle-down effect of odd choices. WWE finally pulled Jey Uso off the main event stage, but seemingly pulled the plug at random on Rhodes' run. The booking is flailing a bit, and injuries to the likes of Seth Rollins and some downright silly masked-man stuff aren't helping.

In hindsight, we might look back at this WrestleMania as a what could've been for really using this title scene to launch someone into orbit.

Oba Femi bullying everyone in the Chamber and getting a title win, for example, could have been a strong usage of this "down" WrestleMania trip. It would certainly have slashed through any complaints about predictability right now. 

Even WWE going all the way in with Trick Williams, who the powers in control so obviously love, could have worked.

Maybe this is still about Jacob Fatu, in some fashion. Add him as the fourth for a Fatal 4-Way, even if he doesn't get the win, but make him a serious threat.

Alas, fans will certainly make do with Orton chasing world title No. 15. Maybe it kicks off a John Cena-like goodbye eventually, or is even the catalyst of the long-requested Rhodes heel turn.

There is plenty of room for WWE to flesh out this tale from here. The hard work probably isn't going to reverse some of the weird negativity around this 'Mania, but digging out of this hole of iffy booking is a marathon.

A fitting first step might be finally yanking Orton from Jelly Roll-and-friends purgatory and giving him a run. Let the title match at 'Mania steal the show, let Rollins back in the mix at a later date and see what happens.

Remember, in pro wrestling, predictable doesn't have to be bad. The good guys have to win eventually, for example. Orton is one of those, so maybe this is WWE getting back on track, albeit painfully.