Elimination Chamber Fallout: Nothing Changed — And That’s the Problem

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Elimination Chamber should have
been called Status Quo Chamber.

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Raquel Rodriguez was the
dominant woman in the match and

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still walked away without the
win.

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Ria Ripley punched her ticket to
WrestleMania to face Jay Cargill

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and dominance that belong to
Raquel, eliminating 2

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competitors at once and
reminding everyone what real

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power looks like.
And now here comes the

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uncomfortable part.
Does Raquel stand by smiling

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politely while Liv Morgan's view
with Stephanie Bigger plays out

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without her?
Or does she finally decide she's

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done waiting for her permission?
Ben Blore, meanwhile, lost

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cleanly to CM Punk, despite
Michael Cole repeatedly

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reminding us that Dominic
Mysterio and JD McDonough were

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in the building.
There was no betrayal, no

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accidental interference, no
Judgment Day fallout, just been

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getting pinned and staring up at
the lights.

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And that was the theme of this
entire show.

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Outside of a bizarre Don Housing
debut, Seth Romans being

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revealed as the Mass Detector,
and Randy Orton winning the

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men's Elimination Chamber by
beating Cody Rhodes, nothing

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actually changed.
Story didn't pivot, power

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structure structures didn't
shift, and WrestleMania Pass

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stayed exactly where they
already were.

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Elimination Chamber didn't
create momentum tonight.

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It protected the status quo.
Let's get into the women's

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Elimination Chamber match, which
was Rio Ripley versus Keanu

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James versus Tiffany Stratton
versus Alexa Bliss versus Oscar

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versus Raquel Rodriguez.
Rio Ripley was the Women's

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Elimination Chamber by Penny,
Tiffany Stratton.

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And before we get to the end
result, this match worked.

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It was hard hitting, physical,
and impactful.

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Even though it felt a little
short on time.

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Everyone had a role and most of
them executed it well.

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Kiana James in particular came
out of this looking better than

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she went in.
She was framed as an

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opportunist, capitalizing when
Oscar missed it up Alexa Bliss

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and pinning Alexa.
Immediately after that smart

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booking.
It told you exactly who Kiana is

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without overexposing her.
But the real MVP of this match

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was Big Sexy Raquel Rodriguez.
Raquel was the final entry into

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the chamber and she made every
second count.

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The moment she entered, the tone
shifted.

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She started breaking everyone,
slamming bodies into the chamber

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and the pods.
She threw Tiffany Stratton into

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a running powerbomb against the
pod and just overwhelmingly

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field with raw strength.
And she also laughed at Tiffany

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Stratton just getting hit into
her paws pot as well, which was

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hilarious.
And the visual tonight, Raquel

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hitting a Tejana bomb on Keanu
James on to Oscar and pinning

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them both at the same time.
That's the kind of moment people

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remember, which is why the
finish is so frustrating.

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Despite all that dominance,
Raquel is taken out by what is

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essentially a quick double team
from Tiffany Andrea and they

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just pin.
There's no extended punishment,

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no war of attrition, just gone
and the crowd booed and

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deflated.
And that's where the booking

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starts to wobble.
Rio Ripley continues this

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pattern of where she absorbs
minimal offense, does very

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little in long stretches and
just be in just place, dead and

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still walks out as the winner.
In the end, it protects her aura

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sheer, but it comes at the
expense of the people doing all

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the heavy lifting in the match.
A Keanu James and an Oscar and a

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Raquel.
If Raquel was going to lose, she

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should have been put down.
Make her take finishers, make it

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feel earned.
One quick double team doesn't

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match the stories she just told.
Alexa Bliss, meanwhile, barely

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got enough time to advance
anything regarding Charlotte

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Flair, which makes her inclusion
in the Elimination Chamber feel

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like more of a placeholder than
the pivot point.

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And while the double elimination
of Oscar and Kiana is a

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fantastic visual for Raquel, it
doesn't really move the needle

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for either of them going
forward.

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So yes, Ria Ripley is heading to
WrestleMania, but the women who

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left the biggest impression
tonight wasn't the winner, it

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was Raquel Rodriguez.
Next up we have been Blur versus

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CM Punk for the World
Heavyweight Championship and CM

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Punk defeats been Blur with GTS.
And the match itself, it was

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good.
Technically solid, well paced.

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Nothing really wrong with in
isolation.

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But it fell flat because of the
expectations the show itself

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created.
We were told Dominic and JD

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McDonough were in the building.
Michael Cole made sure we knew

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that on commentary.
Then pause.

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He looked up the ramp.
The camera lingered.

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We were expecting Dom and JD to
pop up at any time.

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Everything about the
presentation told us something

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or someone was coming.
A betrayal, an accident,

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Judgment day interference,
intentional or not.

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And none of it happened.
No Dom, no JD, no Post Mac

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attack on Punk, no attack on
Finn.

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It was just a clean pin on Finn
and a handshake.

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Now, yes, this further confirms
Finn's baby face turn.

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That part is clear.
But clarity isn't the same thing

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as momentum.
This match didn't advance Finn's

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story, it stalled it.
And when you tease chaos all

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night and deliver calm instead,
it doesn't feel subversive.

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It feels deflating.
Finn didn't lose because of

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Judgment Day.
He didn't win in spite of them.

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It simply didn't matter.
And that's the problem.

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Elimination Chamber quick hits.
Before wrapping this up, a few

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quick hits from the rest of the
show.

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AJ Lee defeated Becky Lynch to
become the new women's

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Intercontinental champion.
It's a significant title change,

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but it also reinforces the
largest name of the night,

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Execution without disruption.
Then Housing made his debut, and

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I'm still not entirely sure what
to make of it.

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Chicago didn't exactly embrace
him at the end, and that

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reaction matters.
It didn't feel like a moment

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that immediately found its
footing ready.

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Orton won the amends Elimination
Chamber by pinning Cody Rhodes.

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Seth Rollins was revealed as the
mass mystery attacker, which

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answers the question but doesn't
really open up a new one or

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progress anything forward.
And local Paul got more

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eliminations than he needed,
eliminating LA Knight, Javon

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Evans and Trick Williams, the
choice that felt more about

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spotlight allocation than
Storonicity.

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The real question coming out of
the Elimination Chamber is this

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what happens now with the
Judgement Day?

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Both Raquel Rodriguez and Fan
Belore needed momentum heading

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into WrestleMania and instead
both came out of this PLE

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feeling stalled.
Raquel is now staring down

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roughly 50 days of doing nothing
while Liv Morgan is locked into

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her view that Stephanie Procure.
So what is Raquel supposed to do

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in the meantime?
Is she meant to seize quietly in

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the background back into Liv's
bodyguard?

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Or worse, does she become Liv's
attack dog against Stephanie,

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offering her up a role that Dom
had to do a couple of years ago?

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Because if Raquel is factored
into Liv and Stephanie at

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WrestleMania, then neither she
nor Dom to be a part of this

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build at all.
This is a sink or swim time for

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Liv and Stephanie.
If the WWE is not going to use

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the Judgement Day's history,
heat or internal tension to

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elevate that match, then the
feud has to stand on his own.

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Completely on its own, without
borrowed muscle or interference.

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Dobbs should be translating.
Raquel shouldn't be Liv's attack

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dog.
And if Raquel continues to be

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sidelined, that only increases
the chances of her costing live

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at WrestleMania unless the WWE
pivots entered this into a

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three-way.
So as of right now, Raquel isn't

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positioned as a threat.
She's positioned as an

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unresolved consequent or for a
future live to deal with.

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And Speaking of unresolved
consequences with the lower, his

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chances at a full face turn went
up dramatically tonight.

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Yes, then wanted to do it alone,
but that doesn't mean he won't

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feel a certain way about Dom and
JD not helping him when the

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moment came.
If the demented demon

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resurfaces, and if that darker
Edge starts creeping back in,

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there's a very real possibility
that this ends the exactly the

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same way it began being.
Gets taken out a la Edge via

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Concerto, A betrayal and then
being kicked out of Judgment

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Day, mirroring what he did to
Edge three years ago.

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That symmetry is sitting right
there for the taking and what to

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watch for.
On Raw we have Dom having an

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intercondial championship match
against Pinta with Finn coming

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off a loss and the possibility
of Finn being positioned as Dom

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Brusselmania opponent.
All signs to point to Dom

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retaining.
The key question is that the

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result is whether Finn reacts to
the secret front Dom or does he

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start laying the groundwork for
that inevitable fracture of the

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Judgement Day as the Morgan is
definitely procure the path

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forward for them.
Feels thin right now.

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Another attack, another
confrontation, more heat without

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texture.
Raquel could have added

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complicity to the story
immediately.

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Instead, we're stuck waiting to
see if the WWE realizes that.

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And finally, keep an eye on
Roxanne Perez.

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If she's back on Monday,
hopefully she could help push

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the Judgment Day story forward,
especially now that AJ Lee is

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the new Women's Intercontinental
Champion.

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There are seeds here that can
plant.

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They can plan for a future
challenge.

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They set up that dream match.
The question is whether the WWE

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actually plants them or let's
this division drift the same way

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it did.
And Elimination Chamber?

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Elimination Chamber gave us
answers, just not ones that

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change anything.