WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 takes place tonight (Sat., Feb. 28) from United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
The show begins at 5 pm ET with the free Countdown show, leading right into the main course at 7 pm ET streaming HERE on ESPN in the U.S., and on Netflix pretty much everywhere else.
There is only one WWE star who can stop Cody Rhodes from main eventing WrestleMania
Cody Rhodes plans to punch his ticket back to the main event of WrestleMania by winning tonight’s men’s Elimination Chamber match. The six man field consists of Rhodes, Trick Williams, Randy Orton, LA Knight, Je’Von
Evans, and Jey Uso YouTube douchebag Logan Paul. The winner earns a WWE championship match against Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 42.
Here are the rules for an Elimination Chamber match: Two wrestlers will start the match in the ring, with the four remaining competitors locked in separate pods located at the corners of the chamber. Every three to five minutes, one pod will be opened at random and the wrestler inside will join the match. This continues until all four pods have been unlocked. Pin falls and submissions can occur at any time, and the last wrestler left standing after the other five are eliminated is the winner.
Cody sure looks like the big favorite to win this chamber match. Evans is primarily here to dazzle the crowd with his bouncy moves in the ring. Trick Williams and Logan Paul are heels who don’t match up well with fellow heel McIntyre at WrestleMania. The megastar LA Knight is clearly a level or two below Rhodes in kayfabe. He’s a Raw guy anyway who is feuding with The Vision, and doesn’t have any business moving over to SmackDown for a program with Drew. Orton is closer to being on equal ground with Cody in that regard, and he’s the one guy who could potentially win this thing besides WWE’s golden boy.
However, just because Orton has a chance to win doesn’t mean he’ll be able to stop Rhodes on his own. The one WWE star who has the best chance of killing Cody’s WrestleMania dream this year is actually Drew McIntyre, who isn’t even in this match. Drew has been very focused on making sure the biggest threats to his title reign won’t fight him at WrestleMania. That includes the way he interfered at Royal Rumble to eliminate Rhodes, and his more recent successful efforts to screw Jacob Fatu out of qualifying for the Elimination Chamber. Drew also tried but failed to screw Cody out of qualifying for the chamber.
There is every reason to suspect Drew will try it again tonight by sneaking into the chamber when the doors are opened after someone’s elimination. Will Rhodes be better prepared and see the Claymore coming this time?
Some people think Randy Orton is actually the mystery attacker who took out Jacob Fatu in October, and sent Jey Uso out in an ambulance last night on SmackDown. Unlike that loser Sami Zayn, The Viper should know how to capitalize on the situation and win if Drew McIntyre decides to target Cody tonight. Then again, Drew did attack Orton with the belt on SmackDown a week ago, so maybe Randy has an RKO with the champ’s name on it if he finds a way into the chamber tonight.
Will Cody Rhodes do the thing everyone expects him to do by winning the Elimination Chamber match and securing his spot in the other main event of WrestleMania 42? Or will Drew McIntyre find a way to screw him over again? Tune into Elimination Chamber to find out.
The rest of the card
Here are the remaining three matches and bonus angle that are currently advertised for Elimination Chamber:
Women’s Elimination Chamber: Tiffany Stratton vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka vs. Kiana James vs. Raquel Rodriguez
The winner of this chamber match will challenge Jade Cargill for the WWE women’s championship at WrestleMania 42. Ripley and Stratton stand out as the two most likely opponents for Jade out of this group.
Alexa Bliss seems like a better fit for whatever the women’s tag team title plans are at WrestleMania. Raquel’s plan is to win this match and make sure that she and Liv Morgan both walk out of WrestleMania as new women’s champions. Kiana James is the underdog heel whose stock is quickly rising; it will be interesting to see if WWE continues her push with any eliminations in this bout.
For whatever it’s worth, I think Rhea’s loss of the WWE women’s tag team championship last night on SmackDown makes her the overwhelming favorite to win this match. Ripley has unfinished business with both Asuka and Rodriguez, so it may come down to Ripley versus one of them at the very end. Rhea’s back is vulnerable in kayfabe after the very long match on SmackDown, whereas Asuka chose the smarter path of not working a match on the eve of Elimination Chamber.
CM Punk (c) vs. Finn Balor for the World heavyweight championship
Finn Balor was a sore loser after Punk retained the gold against him in his home country of Ireland last month, so now CM gets to do it all over again on his own home turf in Chicago. The story here is that GM Adam Pearce is worried a Balor win will ruin the main event of WrestleMania 42, which is currently scheduled to be Punk vs. Roman Reigns. Finn has refused help from his Judgment Day stablemates Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh, and says he wants to win this match and the world title on his own. That strategy will likely blow up in his face; it will be a completely shocking outcome if Punk actually loses this title match in Chicago.
Becky Lynch (c) vs. AJ Lee for the women’s Intercontinental championship
AJ Lee is back in WWE again and convinced The Man to give her a shot at the women’s Intercontinental championship in the city where she currently lives, Chicago. AJ has been a pain in Lynch’s ass ever since she returned to WWE last September. That includes making Becky tap out to the Black Widow at both Wrestlepalooza and Survivor Series, and also costing her the title against Maxxine Dupri in December. Is it finally time for Becky to do something terrible to Lee in return, or will AJ continue her dominance over Lynch by taking her belt ahead of WrestleMania 42?
Who or what is inside the mystery crate?
There is a large mystery crate that’s been shipped back and forth between Raw and SmackDown, with a note that says don’t open it until Elimination Chamber. Some people think it could be Danhausen inside the crate, who is now gone from the AEW roster. Others are hoping it’s Chris Jericho. Who knows, maybe Nick Khan saw those underperforming WrestleMania 42 ticket sales and made a call to The Final Boss for another big Elimination Chamber angle before he immediately disappears again. The bottom line is that we’ll find out who or what is inside the mystery crate tonight. Will it happen in a backstage comedy segment, or will the crate reveal actually be a more serious angle that affects one of the four matches scheduled for Elimination Chamber?
What will you be looking for at Elimination Chamber? Let me know your thoughts on the card in the comments below, Cagesiders.
