The apprentice of The Miz will be at ringside when the WWE Champion defends his title against Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler with the winner set to carry the belt to WrestleMania XXVII.

If they come through that bout unscathed, then Riley and The Miz will have a close eye on the RAW Elimination Chamber match, which will decide who gets a WWE Title opportunity at WrestleMania.

Six Superstars – Sheamus, John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk, John Morrison and R Truth – will enter the chamber hoping to emerge with a championship match on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

skysports.com caught up with Riley ahead of the big event, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports HD1 from 1am on Sunday night (Monday morning), and he gave us his verdict on the men involved.

He also shares his views on the sensational return of The Rock to the WWE after the People’s Champion was confirmed as the special guest host at WrestleMania…

Riley on… The Miz: “I love The Miz. His approach to his job is second to none; it’s extremely important to him that he prepares on a daily basis. I travel with him and from the moment he gets up to the moment he goes to bed it’s all WWE, all sports entertainment. He keeps his body in shape and he is a true champion in the ring and out. He’s a great representative of the company and I’m learning a lot from him, not only on TV but outside as well.”

Riley on… Jerry Lawler: “I’m surprised he has the courage to put the mic down and step in the ring. I respect Jerry, I think he’s great… but he was great 20 years ago. I think he’s about 20 years outside his prime. The Miz is a guy in his late twenties, in the prime of his athletic career and I’m 6ft4ins and 220lbs and I’ll be ringside making sure nothing happens to him. I don’t see Jerry standing much of a chance to be honest with you. It’s cute that he’s going to give one last effort to get to WrestleMania and a lot of people are going to be behind that because they love rooting for the underdog. That’s exactly what he is, but he might be the biggest underdog of all time and I don’t see him winning – or even making it a close fight. He’s in there against a guy at the top of his game as the WWE Champion and we’re on the road to WrestleMania here. I don’t see anything deterring us from getting to where we started the year trying to get to.”

Riley on… going into the Elimination Chamber: “I would love to go into one of these matches, it would be a great thing for my career. Right now I’m doing my thing with The Miz, the grass is green on both sides because he’s on a great run as the WWE Champion and I’m learning from him. I would like an opportunity to be in the Elimination Chamber, but who’s to say that opportunity won’t come in the future and who’s to say I would be this far without The Miz? I’m in a pretty good spot right here.”

Riley on… the Raw Elimination Chamber match: “The great part about the match is anyone can win. There’s a lot of top stars locked in that thing, it’s not straightforward, so anything can happen. Of course, the favourites are going to be people like John Cena and Randy Orton who have been in there before and have the experience, but the great part of any triple-threat or fatal-four-way is that you get unpredictability. Anything can happen on Sunday night and that’s what makes the WWE great. If Alex Riley was in there then things might be a little bit different, but I’m not so anyone can win it.”

Riley on… John Cena: “Even before I was involved in the WWE, he was always an amazing talent. I have a lot of respect for John, but there’s things he does that I don’t quite agree with – I’m more of a Miz fan you might say so me and John don’t get along too well. But I do respect him and I think he’s an amazing talent. His chances in the Elimination Chamber are better than most because he’s been there before. Once you get locked inside that cage it gets scary, but he’s played that game before. He seems to come alive in the ‘WrestleMania season’. He’s good in the play-offs, he’s good late in the game and we’re real late in the game right now. He’s one we’re going to have our eyes on.”

Riley on… Randy Orton: “Just like John he’s been around for a long time and he’s been in that match a ton of times, facing guys like The Undertaker in the run up to WrestleMania. You don’t want to be facing a guy that’s comfortable in that environment because it’s very hard to be comfortable in that chamber for as long as it goes on. Those goys know the deal and Randy will be prepared and ready to go.”

Riley on… CM Punk: “I can’t fault him for what he’s doing. He’s taken advantage of an opportunity, using what Wade Barrett started with the Nexus and now he’s got all of these talented guys on his side. I like CM Punk, I think he’s an amazing talent and whatever you ask him to do, he can do well. I see him taking advantage of his opportunities in there and maybe sneaking out of there with a win.”

Riley on… the return of The Rock: “If he points his arrow in our direction then we’ll have an answer for him, but I’m extremely excited to see him back. He brings a lot to this company. He closed the show on RAW with a 20-minute ‘insult-fest’, which to me is always so entertaining. He does it with such charisma, he opens people’s eyes and he shook the place up a little bit. There’s a certain power structure and people have their spots – and then he comes back and turns the place on its head. Now you don’t know what to think. He might be after John Cena. He might be after The Miz. The Rock is going to be an amazing person to have at WrestleMania because of all the history and the draw he will bring. When you go into a fight you want to fight the best in the world and The Rock is definitely that.”