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Update on Competitors in Two WWE Elimination Chamber Matches on Feb. 25

TJR Wrestling

This past Monday on Raw, WWE announced there would be two Elimination Chamber matches on February 25th, which is a Raw brand PPV taking place in Las Vegas. One of the matches would feature six men competing for a Universal Championship match at WrestleMania since Brock Lesnar, the Universal Champion, is not working the Elimination Chamber match. The other Elimination Chamber match will feature six women in the first-ever women’s Elimination Chamber match, which was announced by Stephanie “making history” McMahon.

Who are the six men and women in those matches? I’m not going to shout “Who” like New Day or make a Jim Neidhart joke. Instead, here’s what we know.

Three men won matches last week on Raw that are in the Elimination Chamber and you can see them in the image at the top of this post: John Cena, Braun Strowman and Elias.

The other three men expected to be in the match after winning qualifying matches are Roman Reigns (the expected winner of Elimination Chamber to set up Lesnar match at WrestleMania), Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan. That info comes from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter by Dave Meltzer.

As always in WWE, plans can and sometimes do change. Jordan is dealing with a neck injury that may be serious according to Meltzer, which is why he hasn’t worked at live events for several weeks and he barely did anything at the Royal Rumble aside from an injury angle. Due to Jordan’s injury, he’s probably not going to be in the match after all. Samoa Joe is also out with a foot injury, so he’s not going to be a part of it.

That means they have to get somebody to fill that sixth spot. I don’t think it will be The Miz or Finn Balor (who lost to John Cena on Raw) because they make sense as an Intercontinental Title match at the Elimination Chamber show. Matt Hardy also lost a match last week, so it’s probably not going to be him. Bray Wyatt is a possibility to be in the Chamber, but he could be slotted for a match against Hardy as well.

As we wrote about last week. Miz vs. Braun Strowman for the IC Title is the WrestleMania plan.

TJR Thoughts: I don’t think the sixth guy in the match will matter that much. Most people watching will know Reigns is going to win the Elimination Chamber and whoever the sixth guy is will not be a huge factor in the finish when other big names like Cena, Strowman and Rollins are involved.

For the women’s Elimination Chamber match, Alexa Bliss will defend her Raw Women’s Championship. The six women in the match based on local advertising, according to Meltzer, are expected to be: Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose. Asuka won’t be in the match because she’s already getting a title shot at WrestleMania.

TJR Thoughts: I’m not sure about that lineup considering how Bayley gets no reaction anymore while Deville and Rose are still early in their careers. They should really put Mickie James in the match considering her veteran status and as somebody that has a lot of experience, she could lend some credibility to the match. A woman with six Women’s Championships is better in the match than women that have only been on the main roster for a few months.

I think Nia Jax winning the match makes a lot of sense to finally put her over since she hasn’t won the Raw Women’s Title match yet. That would set up a possible Jax vs. Bliss match at WrestleMania with Bliss possibly going face since she is cheered anyway.

Asuka’s expected to challenge Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania because the Royal Rumble winner gets to choose what title they go after.

As is always the case in WWE, plans can always change.