With Elimination Chamber 2020 coming up this Sunday night, the go-home show of Monday Night Raw and our best guess of what will happen on Friday Night SmackDown have given us an indication of what talent is booked for the pay-per-view and who is not currently scheduled. Of course, the card is always subject to change and WWE may end up making alterations to this lineup, but at the moment, the men and women in this breakdown are not currently advertised as being part of this event.
In some cases, this may be justified, or even a purposeful plan to set up a surprise. In other cases, it may be ridiculous. That is up to you to decide as we take a look at which superstars aren’t being promoted for this show.
From the Raw Men’s Division
— Akira Tozawa: Unfortunately, as he’s frequently been on these lists, Tozawa is too low on the totem pole to find his way into anything important enough to be on this card. He’s the first example of many who will just be referred to as #JobberStatus to save time. All of those superstars just don’t have stories going on, or their feuds aren’t big deals.
— The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar): I expect to see these two ringside for the Raw tag team title match.
— Bobby Lashley / Rusev: This feud was horrible and went on too long before just disappearing. I’m not surprised. That’s a typical WWE way of booking things. Keep something bad going on forever and then drop it with no resolution because you finally came to the realization it was garbage way later than you should have. That way, nobody wins. Everyone sat through months of bad storytelling and didn’t even get a conclusion to make it worth the while.
— Brock Lesnar / Drew McIntyre: As this is a WrestleMania match and they aren’t feuding with anyone else in the interim, there’s no need to put them on the card. There’s nothing for them to do.
— Cedric Alexander: #JobberStatus…as much as it pains me to say it.
— Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder: #JobberStatus
— EC3: EC3 hasn’t been seen since his concussion injury several months back.
— Edge / Randy Orton: As with Lesnar and McIntyre, WWE is going to keep these two apart for now. There’s no need
— Eric Young: #JobberStatus
— Erick Rowan: I guess he’ll be too busy playing with his toy spider.
— Kevin Owens: He’ll interfere in the Raw tag team title match.
— Mojo Rawley: #JobberStatus
— No Way Jose: #JobberStatus
— The O.C. (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows): As the AJ Styles vs. Aleister Black match is No Disqualification, I fully expected Anderson and Gallows to interfere at some point.
— Rey Mysterio: I wouldn’t be shocked if Mysterio was ringside for the United States title match to offset Angel Garza.
— Ricochet: After struggling to beat Anderson and Gallows, not being able to get a single move in on Lesnar and then jobbing out to Riddick Moss, you can toss Ricochet in #JobberStatus for now, it seems. Crazy.
— Riddick Moss: The 24/7 title isn’t something that gets advertised in advance for pay-per-views.
— R-Truth: If he would do anything, it would be something involving the 24/7 title. Again, that wouldn’t be advertised in advance.
— Samoa Joe: The Samoan Submission Machine is currently serving a 30-day suspension for violating the Wellness Policy.
— Shelton Benjamin: #JobberStatus
— Titus O’Neil: These days, O’Neil pops up once in a while, but isn’t quite active in any in-ring capacity.
— The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar): The Viking Raiders are tangentially in this Rollins and Owens feud, but their roles as the primary tag team have been usurped by The Street Profits. WWE doesn’t seem to have anything in mind for them to do. I expect them to be in the Raw tag title match at WrestleMania along with Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins, Akam and Rezar, if not also Anderson and Gallows.
From the Raw Women’s Division
— Becky Lynch: The Man doesn’t need to be on this card. We’re establishing her WrestleMania opponent.
— Charlotte Flair: The Queen has her sights set on NXT’s Rhea Ripley. There’s no need for her to do anything here, either.
— The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce): It’s been months since we’ve seen these two. Rumor has it, they’re being repackaged, although we’ve seen nothing to indicate that’s confirmed.
— Kairi Sane: Asuka will be in the Elimination Chamber match. That doesn’t leave Kairi Sane with much to do, so she’ll either be ringside cheering on The Empress of Tomorrow or doing nothing.
— Lana: No Lashley, no Lana.
— Nia Jax: Jax will remain out with her knee injuries for the coming months and isn’t expected to return to action until later in 2020.
From the SmackDown Men’s Division
— Apollo Crews / Sheamus / Shorty G: Sheamus had said he was done with Crews and Gable. Crews and Gable had said they weren’t done with Sheamus, but he’s moved on and said he’d be fighting in the Elimination Chamber match. Clearly, that didn’t happen, as there’s no chamber for him to fight in, since WWE cancelled that match.
— The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel): #JobberStatus
— Bray Wyatt: WWE is just killing time until his match with John Cena. There’s no role for him at Elimination Chamber.
— The Colons (Epico Colon & Primo Colon): These two haven’t done anything in WWE in a year.
— Daniel Bryan / Drew Gulak / Heath Slater: Slater has been a prop to tell a story of Gulak vs. Bryan. I’m extremely surprised we’re not getting something involving these guys yet. They could still announce it on SmackDown, of course, and they should. There are only six matches on the card at the moment.
— Elias: Elias hasn’t been the primary focal point of a feud in a while. He was buddying it up with Braun Strowman against Sami Zayn’s crew, though. Maybe that means he’ll help Strowman in some fashion in his handicap match.
— Jinder Mahal: Mahal suffered a ruptured patellar tendon injury in a match against Ali on June 15th and will be out several months.
— King Baron Corbin: Don’t book another match against Reigns. Please. I like both guys, but that feud’s been done to death.
— Lars Sullivan: The Freak will be out of action until 2020 due to a knee injury.
— Mustafa Ali: It’s a shame WWE nixed the Elimination Chamber match that would have featured Reigns and Sheamus and company. Ali could have been used very well in that with a story of him wanting to correct last year’s absence.
— The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson): When you’re leaving the company, there’s no need to be booked on any cards and get pay-per-view bonus checks or more momentum on your careers.
— Roman Reigns: “I’m next.” WWE skipped the whole Elimination Chamber match in favor of cutting to the chase and jumping straight to that moment.
From the SmackDown Women’s Division
— Everyone: At the moment, before SmackDown has aired, WWE has strangely done nothing to promote a match for this division. It seems like they need to have a No. 1 contender’s match and should have put multiple people (Carmella, Naomi, Evans, etc) in an Elimination Chamber. For some reason, they didn’t, and I’m bewildered.
That means the women on the blue brand currently sitting this out until they announce something on Friday are Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Ember Moon (injured), Lacey Evans, Mandy Rose, Mickie James (injured), Naomi, Nikki Cross, Sasha Banks, Sonya Deville and Tamina Snuka.
Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
