This Saturday, six men and women will step foot inside one of the most brutal structures WWE has to offer. In the city of Chicago, the fans will be on the edge of their seats as they find out who survives the Elimination Chamber and earns a title shot.
Let’s take a look at the card and what WWE has to offer on its last (for now) show before WrestleMania.
The biggest bout on the card is for the World Heavyweight Championship. Hometown hero CM Punk will defend his title against Finn Balor. Now, there is a snowball’s chance in hell that Balor walks away with the gold, as it is reported that this is a placeholder feud until Roman Reigns returns in March. That doesn’t mean the build-up hasn’t been great, though. Punk is trying to knock some sense into Balor, telling him to split from the Judgement Day. Meanwhile, the Prince has become a somewhat conceivable threat to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Expect the second-city Saint to have his hand held high when the match is over.
Another hometown hero will be looking to capture gold in Chicago. AJ Lee takes on Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. The odd part about this match is that it’s taking place at Elimination Chamber instead of WrestleMania. Rumor has it that the creative team will find a way to have this end in a no-contest, so they run it back at ‘Mania. So why even have the match take place? Their promo battles have been subpar at best. I suppose it’s an excuse to get the second-city Saints’ wife on the card in their hometown. Whether or not AJ wins, the crowd will be rooting for her.
Then there is the women’s EC match, where the winner takes on Jade Cargill for the Smackdown Women’s championship. That is expected to happen, as it appears that Liv Morgan will choose Stephanie Vaquer after winning the Royal Rumble. The blue brand’s women’s division has been booked terribly, so let’s hope WWE can offer the fans something for WM.
The first participant and most likely to win is Tiffany Stratton. Stratton has faced Cargill before, so there might be backlash from fans if she wins. The next two that don’t seem to have a chance are Asuka and Alexa Bliss. That leaves Rhea Ripley, who will probably get the biggest pop of the night. Raquel Rodriguez is a sleeper in the fight, as she could pull the upset and take home the title alongside her stablemate Liv Morgan at WM. Lastly, perhaps the most shocking is that Kiana James will be debuting inside the Elimination Chamber. She found a creative way to win the triple threat, taking Flair down with the pin to get the win.
In the main event, six men will wage war inside the Chamber. Cody Rhodes, LA Knight, Randy Orton, Trick Williams, Je’Von Carter, and Jey Uso. Rhodes is the favorite to win the match, but expect everyone else to put up a fight. A very interesting fact is that Je’Von Carter is the first participant inside the EC to be born after it debuted. Look for him to shine inside the EC. The winner will take on Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
Lastly, don’t forget about what could be the biggest surprise of the night. For weeks, Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis have been trading back and forth a crate. On the crate, it says “Do Not Open Until 2/28/26”. At first, people thought it’d be Chris Jericho inside the crate. However, Y2J is still under contract with AEW, and reports suggest he will be returning to WWE when no one expects it. A comical take was that Triple H would come out of the crate and declare a “New Era” in the WWE. Other suggestions are a new sponsor, something to do with WWE 2K26, or Danhausen.
No matter what is revealed, this year’s Elimination is looking to be a great one. Probably not as memorable as last year, when John Cena turned heel, but I digress. Feast your eyes on one of the most unforgiving structures in WWE, and get ready to see what’s inside that crate. Tune in at 7/ET on the ESPN App in the city of Chicago to witness the last checkpoint before WrestleMania.
