WWE Elimination Chamber - Odds For All 7 matches

7. Kickoff Show Match - The Brotherhood vs. RybAxel

Starting at Wrestlemania 28 in 2012, the addition of a pre-show and kickoff match was done to accomplish one thing: to have one last chance to sell fans on the pay-per-view. Before, Smackdown was the last chance for the company to reach fans on buying the event, excluding commercials. Has it worked? There are way too many variables to truly know, but one thing is true, it allows a chance for wrestlers to get a match on a pay-per-view card they wouldn't get otherwise and gets the fans in the building and watching at home excited for the next three hours. At Elimination Chamber, this match contains two tag teams that are stuck in mid-card purgatory with no sense of creative ideas to them. Sure, the Brotherhood of Cody Rhodes and Goldust just lost the WWE Tag Team Titles at the Royal Rumble, but anyone who has watched the past few Raw's know that they aren't being pushed to those titles anymore. During the past four months, the Brotherhood was one of the most exciting developments in the WWE. They put on great matches, had an amazing story line with the Authority, and made us care about the tag team division again. However, one of the negatives of the industry is true with them right now and that is not everyone can receive a push at once. At the other side of this match, we have two individuals who were clients of Paul Heyman who were heavily pushed, but were not accepted by the WWE Universe. After falling off the path of Paul Heyman, Curtis Axel and Ryback have decided to stay together, even through the tough times they have had since. I am not sure about the readers, but I care very little about this team. With tag teams, there should be a reason they are together. Like the Brotherhood, the Usos are brothers and have fought alongside one another for all their lives. The New Age Outlaws are the classic team that have the experience and came together as a cohesive unit within D-X and are back to take back the tag team division. With RybAxel, it is just two wrestlers that creative didn't know what to do with after the split with Heyman and are just fighting alongside one another. Unfortunately, this is a common trend, but that's a topic for another day. This match has little to no build up. It is just there to accomplish what I said before: build excitement and give one last sell to the fans who are considering buying the event. That being said, it is extremely hard to decide who the edge belongs to. Going back to the start of the Kickoff Era, faces have a winning record of 12-8. That with the fact that the Brotherhood are at least somewhat over allow me to side with them, but this one is basically a coin flip. Prediction: The Brotherhood by pin fall after a CrossRhodes by Cody to Curtis Axel Odds: The Brotherhood-60%, RybAxel-40%