WRESTLING REPORT

WWE sends mixed signals this week between elimination chamber and Wrestlemania

WWE sends mixed signals this week between elimination chamber and Wrestlemania
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With Elimination Chamber looming, this is usually when the WWE shifts into high gear to get everything firing on all cylinders with their biggest event of the year looming- Wreslemania.

Raw opened up with Becky Lynch who has gone from kicking off Smackdown to kicking off Raw and she's not even on this show. Stephanie McMahon and her cut a promo basically tabling Becky Lynch from competition the next few weeks while she's "suspended indefinitely" coming up to Wrestlemania where she is scheduled to face Ronda Rousey. Kurt Angle looks to be building up to one more big Wrestlemania moment, and with no John Cena, no HHH, no Shawn Michaels and no Undertaker seemingly, this may be the big nostalgic touch for this year's Wrestlemania, possibly in a tag match. Speaking of nostalgia, for some reason Jeff Jarrett and the Road Dogg are still hanging out with WWE for a second week in a row and they rolled out a second match with Elias, where they couldn't even break a guitar on him properly. Finn Balor continues blazing a path back to a main event and it seems like there's going to be a great match in his very near future and EC3 had a solid introduction to the WWE Universe which is nice since Lars Sullivan is alleged to have had anxiety issues and still hasn't debuted on the main roster after several weeks of promos.

Over on the sister show Smackdown, HHH made a rare appearance and flexed some of that VP power with Becky Lynch, continuing the build up for a great Wrestlemania main event. Gallows and Anderson made a rare appearance in a subpar tag match versus Rusev and Nakamora, as Smackdown struggles to find its rhythm since the return of the McMahons and the promised change of direction. Build up for Elimination Chamber seems to be left primarily to Smackdown as the main event is comprised of six of their stars including the Planet's Champion, Daniel Bryan. Overall this match isn't exactly stacking up for a great main event as most of the players involved aren't exactly headliners right now with the exception of AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan. Consider in 2018 the line up was Cena, Rollins, Balor, Elias, The Miz, Roman Reigns and Strowman but this year its AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy and Mustafa Ali, it's not really a great comparison is it? Building up for the tag team women's championship elimination match has been a little better though, as the women's matches have been high points on both Raw and Smackdown thus far.

Elimination Chamber looks to be a confusing PPV event with half of the WWE roster talking about Wrestlemania and pointing at the sign in the stadiums, while the other half is talking about an event coming up much sooner.

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Jeremy Peña is having success hitting fourth. Photo by Kevin M. Cox/Getty Images.

The Houston Astros host the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night looking to keep momentum rolling and hand the Jays their fifth straight loss. First pitch is set for 7:40 p.m. EDT at Daikin Park.

Both teams enter the matchup with nearly identical records—Houston at 12-11, Toronto at 12-12—but they’re trending in opposite directions. The Astros have won six of their last ten and boast an 8-6 record at home, while the Blue Jays have dropped four straight and are just 4-7 on the road.

Ryan Gusto gets the start for Houston, entering with a 2-1 record, a 3.18 ERA, and 17 strikeouts across three appearances. He’ll go up against Bowden Francis, who brings a 3.13 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP into the game, along with 20 strikeouts in his four starts.

Jeremy Peña continues to spark the Astros lineup with three homers and three doubles, while catcher Yainer Diaz has added timely hits despite a recent slump. For Toronto, George Springer leads the team with a .333 average, and Bo Bichette has been steady at the plate, going 14-for-45 over his last 10 games.

The Blue Jays have found success when they out-hit opponents, going 10-3 in those games—but Houston’s pitching staff has held opponents to just a 2.86 ERA over the past 10 outings.

The betting line has Toronto as slight road favorites at -120, with Houston at +100 and the over/under set at 8 runs.

Here's a look at tonight's lineup. Cam Smith gets the night off in right field, with Zach Dezenzo filling in. It appears Dezenzo's thumb is fine after banging it up sliding into second base a couple of night's ago.


Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.

Jake Myers is also getting the night off as Chas McCormick gets the start in center. And Mauricio Dubon is getting the nod, starting over Brendan Rodgers at second base.

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