WWE Elimination Chamber 2019: 7 Results Predictions

We might be just three weeks removed from the Royal Rumble, but in that double-wink of the eyes a heck of a lot has happened.

Dean Ambrose shocked the Universe after (probably) turning down a new WWE deal. Hideo Itami shocked precisely nobody following suit. Intergender wrestling rose to prominence - and promptly disappeared again, as Mustafa Ali did the same, a nasty orbital injury sending his own trajectory careening away from the WWE main event's centre of gravity.

Oh, and the Mars rover said farewell. That's not really relevant, but it was very sad, and fits in with the tenuous space metaphor.

Perhaps most importantly, Kofi Kingston, 37-years-young, has suddenly found himself in a headlining WWE Championship match just two months prior to WrestleMania, after successfully running the gauntlet this past Tuesday on SmackDown - and tearing the house down in the process.

His annual Royal Rumble Houdini act aside, Kingston has arguably been the lesser heralded of The New Day trio across their four year stint, providing the solid bedrock of experience to Big E's eye-catching efforts and Xavier Woods' charm. Unexpectedly - and deservedly - he finds himself in the spotlight.

Question is: can he star in it?

At last month's Royal Rumble, we wrote that if WWE had any designs on keeping hold of Hideo Itami, he'd prevail in Phoenix's pre-show presentation. He didn't, and days later, KENTA was looking up the number of a T. Khan (probably).

What did happen, then, is that Buddy Murphy retained his Cruiserweight Title. What also happened, was that whilst doing so he shared a series of sparkling sequences with the superb Akira Tozawa. A full match on PPV between the pair - albeit one watched by nobody - makes all the sense in the world, and could transpire as the evening's finest. The time's not right for Murphy to drop the purple belt, as he continues to build its prestige.

Prediction: Buddy Murphy's legacy continues in a typically super opener.