WWE Elimination Chamber 2017 Matches: Preview and Predictions for Chamber Match

WWE Elimination Chamber 2017 will feature a fair amount of marquee matches, though no matchup will have bigger WrestleMania implications than the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship.

John Cena is only two weeks removed from his historic WWE Championship victory at Royal Rumble, where he tied Ric Flair's illustrious record of 16 world titles won. Cena will have the tough task of defending his newly won belt against five of SmackDown Live's most elite athletes.

Needless to say, the chances of him emerging from the matchup with his title intact are slim to none. However, this will be far from the first time he has competed in an Elimination Chamber match, having won a total of three since 2006.

Despite Cena having the edge in experience over his opponents, it is virtually guaranteed he will not advance to WrestleMania as champion. It is interesting to note that, of everyone involved in the match, his plans for The Show of Shows are not yet set in stone.

One thing that is certain is that the victor will put his gold up for grabs against Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton at WrestleMania. Once Orton vs. Cena took place in the main event of this past week's edition of SmackDown, it was all but confirmed that won't be the championship match at The Showcase of the Immortals.

Credit: WWE.com

Baron Corbin will be the wild card in this year's Elimination Chamber match. He arrived on the WWE scene a little less than one year ago, but he has already carved quite a path of destruction on the blue brand.

In fact, he is riding a wave of momentum after pinning AJ Styles in a Fatal 4-Way match on Tuesday night. As bright as the future is for The Lone Wolf, the timing isn't right for him to become champ; however, expect him to have a strong showing by eliminating a Superstar or two.

One of the men he will likely eliminate is intercontinental champion Dean Ambrose. Those two appear to be on a collision course toward WrestleMania following their run-in on the Jan. 24 edition of SmackDown. Thus, they should battle for the Intercontinental Championship.

With Corbin and Ambrose out of the equation, that brings us to The Miz, who has quietly built an impressive resume for himself since joining SmackDown Live last summer. He has been ready to reclaim his spot in the main event scene for some time now and should leave his mark on this matchup.

The Miz could have been capable of competing for the championship at WrestleMania, but WWE dropped the ball on having him win the Royal Rumble match last month. He should be prominently featured at WrestleMania in some form, but it doesn't look like he will walk in as WWE champion.

The two strongest candidates to emerge from the Elimination Chamber as champion are Styles and Bray Wyatt. Styles is still reeling from his loss of the prestigious prize at Royal Rumble, but he has made it clear he intends on going to great lengths to get his belt back.

As discussed in another article last week, Styles should be the WWE champion come WrestleMania, if only because of the incredible year he had in 2016. Styles vs. Orton is a fresh match and could be infinitely more entertaining than Orton vs. Wyatt.

Wyatt would be a worthy winner of the Elimination Chamber match, given that he has yet to hold singles gold in WWE, but Styles would be a better fit as champion at the moment. He should be involved in SmackDown's biggest bout at WrestleMania, and Wyatt can instead finish off his feud with Luke Harper.

Either way, you can't go wrong with Wyatt, Styles or anyone taking part in the Elimination Chamber match capturing the championship. Each Superstar has some sort of story as he prepares to enter the demonic dome, and the outcome isn't entirely predictable.

On paper, this is one of the most stacked Elimination Chamber matches of all time, and with so much hanging in the balance, it will live up to its potential.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a Digital Journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.