TJRWrestling WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 Preview
It’s WWE Elimination Chamber, featuring two massive 6-person Chamber matches, plus CM Punk facing Finn Balor, and Becky Lynch against AJ Lee.
This is the 16th year that WWE has used the Elimination Chamber PLE name as the Chamber heads to the United Center in Chicago. It’s usually a February show, but it has been in March twice (including last year), and one year it was in May. They also didn’t do it in 2016 before bringing it back the next year. I’ve reviewed them all and have a pretty good memory when it comes to Chamber winners, but I’d say I can remember Royal Rumble matches a lot better.
There are only four matches on this card that should run past the three-hour mark. Last year’s Elimination Chamber PLE had five matches, plus a long post-main event angle, and ran for about 3:30. In 2024, there were just four matches on the pre-show. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, that I think Triple H’s booking of these shows with so few matches feels like a letdown and a waste of the talented roster. Let’s see a tag team match or some kind of midcard title match on a show like this. Why not? Every match doesn’t need to go 20+ minutes. An exciting 10-12 minute match would help. There’s so much downtime between matches with commercials and other stuff filling time that I feel like WWE could be doing more on these PLEs.
Going into this show, we only know two matches for WrestleMania 42 on April 18-19. That’s Men’s Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns challenging CM Punk for the World Title (or Finn Balor if he beats Punk, which seems unlikely) and Women’s Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan challenging Stephanie Vaquer for the Women’s World Title. Other than that, there’s a lot of guessing and speculation, while many fans will complain about not knowing more. I think several more matches will be made clear over the next week, and then we can discern if it’s a great card or not. I thought WrestleMania 40 two years ago was outstanding, while WrestleMania 41 was very average last year. I don’t think WWE has a lot of momentum creatively right now. Yes, the matches are good, and the talent roster is deep, but I don’t think any stories are that hot at the moment, and that’s a disappointment.
As for the mystery crate that will be opened at Elimination Chamber, I’m going with Danhausen. I would love it to be Chris Jericho, who debuted in Chicago in WWE in August 1999, but I think if Jericho is coming back to WWE before WrestleMania, then it needs to be something better than sitting in a crate. I think it fits Danhausen’s crazy character to be in the crate, so that’s why I’m going with him.
This was written before SmackDown on February 27th, but I also altered it due to changes on SmackDown. You can watch WWE Elimination Chamber, streaming live on Saturday, February 28, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ESPN in the United States and Netflix everywhere else. Let’s get to it.
===
Women’s Elimination Chamber Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka vs. Kiana James vs. Raquel Rodriguez
The winner of this match will challenge Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Title at WrestleMania.
Since Jade Cargill is a heel champion, it makes sense for a babyface to win this match. That would eliminate Asuka, James and Rodriguez right away as a potential winner.
I think Raquel Rodriguez has an outside shot to win because there’s no doubt in my mind she’s a future Women’s Title. It just doesn’t feel like the right time or story for her.
I like Asuka a lot, but she’s part of a tag team right now, and I think she’s in this match as a veteran presence without a chance to win.
Kiana James has all the tools, including a great look and heel charisma that will take her far in her career. She’s a future Women’s Champion too, but maybe she’ll win the Women’s US or Women’s IC Title before the Women’s Title. Maybe James eliminates one or two women in this match, but I don’t see her winning.
That leaves one of the three babyfaces: Ripley, Stratton and Bliss. They’re all former WWE Women’s Champions. My lean is to go with Ripley, especially after losing the Women’s Tag Team Titles on SmackDown one night before Elimination Chamber. I think Ripley losing that helps her chances in this match.
I believe there’s going to be a Women’s Tag Team Ladder Match at WrestleMania due to all the teams they have built up in the last few months. I see Bliss being involved in that, same with Asuka and maybe James too. They can literally have 6 teams in the match, and it gets way more women on the card. Ripley could obviously be in it Iyo Sky too.
Rhea Ripley has been on Raw for several years and I think that a change to SmackDown is possible just because they could use a top babyface woman like her.
I could be way off, and maybe Bliss breaks through to get a singles push for the first time in a few years. Then you can do the story where Charlotte Flair is a supportive friend, but then she acts jealous and turns heel as everybody expects her to. I don’t know if that’s the plan. I’m just saying it’s an option if you want to put the Women’s Title on Bliss, then have Flair turn on her later in the year and then Flair gets the title again.
Tiffany Stratton held the WWE Women’s Title for most of 2025, then she lost it to Jade Cargill in early November and went away for a few months on a break. I think WWE wants to solidify Stratton as a top woman in the company and that’s why I could see her winning the Women’s Title from Cargill at WrestleMania 42. If it were me, Stratton would turn heel with or without the title later this year.
It should be a very good match that lasts around 30 minutes or more. Ripley is my pick, but if I had to pick someone else, it would be Stratton, just because WWE wants her featured more. Ripley hasn’t really interacted with Cargill much in the past, while Stratton has, so Ripley against Cargill would feel fresher. I think Stratton will start the match, eliminate the most women, and then fail to eliminate Ripley, who gets the win.
Wrestler That Lasts The Longest:Tiffany Stratton.
Most Eliminations:Tiffany Stratton with 3.
Final Two: Tiffany Stratton and Rhea Ripley.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
===
Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch vs. AJ Lee
Their first PLE match together was at Wrestlepalooza last September when Lee teamed up with CM Punk to beat Lynch and Seth Rollins. That seems like so long ago. This is Lee’s first singles match in over a decade, so she’ll have a lot of pressure on her. The good news is Lee has looked as good as ever since coming back to WWE and working with Lynch is going to help anybody, so I expect a very good match.
This feels like the first of two PLE matches between them. I think Lynch is going to keep the title here, and then Lee will win it at WrestleMania 42. They could go with Lee winning here in her home city of Chicago (where she lives with husband CM Punk), but I’d rather see Lynch hold it longer and for Lynch to earn another shot.
I feel like Lee is going to come close to winning several times, but Lynch will cheat and get the win somehow, which sets up the rematch for WrestleMania 42. The crowd should be into this and I expect them to get plenty of time.
Winner: Becky Lynch
===
World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk vs. Finn Balor
This is a rematch of their January 19th match on Raw in Belfast, when CM Punk beat Finn Balor clean to retain the World Heavyweight Title. I didn’t expect Balor to remain a heel and get another shot at Punk, but here we are.
I think the long-term plan for Balor will see him turn babyface soon after this match and then go on to beat his Judgment Day ally Dominik Mysterio to win the Intercontinental Title. When Balor wrestled like a babyface in Belfast, the fans were strongly behind him, and I think all WWE fans will get behind him if he’s a babyface again. Giving Balor his classic theme song back was a smart move because it will lead to more fan support for him.
As for this match, I expect it to be around a four-star match again, and it will likely get 20+ minutes. It wouldn’t surprise me if this main evented the show just because Punk is in the main event in his hometown of Chicago. Balor should come close to winning a few times, but anything other than a decisive win for Punk would surprise me. I think Punk wins to end this rivalry. I’d have Dominik turn on Balor on Raw to set up Balor as a babyface moving forward.
Winner: CM Punk
===
Men’s Elimination Chamber Match: Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Trick Williams vs. Logan Paul
UPDATE:Logan Paul is in the match instead of Jey Uso due to an injury angle on SmackDown. Jey was mysteriously attacked, then later in the show, Logan Paul beat Jacob Fatu due to Drew McIntyre’s interference, and now Paul is in the match.
The winner of this match gets to challenge Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42.
I don’t know what the Undisputed WWE Championship match is going to be at WrestleMania 42, so this is a tough match to predict going into the Elimination Chamber. Last year at Elimination Chamber, it was obvious that John Cena was winning. This year, Cody Rhodes seems like the obvious answer, but I also think a match with Jacob Fatu makes sense, and perhaps even Randy Orton could be involved as well. There are a lot of options.
Logan Paul has been in the Elimination Chamber before, and I think WWE put him in because they want somebody from The Vision in there. Do I think he has a chance in winning? Nope. I just don’t see him being pushed to challenge for the WWE Title at WrestleMania.
Je’Von Evans and Trick Williams can be looped in together as two young guys with bright futures. Perhaps down the road, they can win a Rumble or Chamber match, but I don’t see it happening here. I expect Evans to perhaps try an OG Cutter off one of the pods, and he’ll probably take an impressive RKO from Orton like he’s done in the past.
LA Knight could win if WWE wants to pull the trigger on him finally getting into the WWE Title picture, and maybe have him win at WrestleMania, too. It’s not a terrible idea by any means because the fans like Knight, and the guy deserves that kind of push. However, I just don’t see it happening.
Randy Orton could win as a legend with 14 World Title reigns, and having him win this match to earn a championship match would be cool to see. He’s my second choice to win.
I’m going with Cody Rhodes to win, and I think we’ll see Drew McIntyre show up to try to prevent Cody from winning, and McIntyre will fail again. Perhaps they do something where Cody is at the end with Orton, then Drew shows up through the door (while somebody is leaving the Chamber) and Drew accidentally hits Orton with a Claymore Kick, so Cody capitalizes to win. Then you can have Orton say he was screwed out of the match by Drew, so he wants a shot, and he gets it at WrestleMania to make it a triple threat. There are a lot of ways it can go.
I think Cody will start the match, take a beating throughout the match, eliminate the most guys and then beat Orton to get the win.
Wrestler That Lasts The Longest: Cody Rhodes
Most Eliminations:Cody Rhodes with 3
Final Two:Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton
Winner: Cody Rhodes
===
BONUS TOPICS FOR WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER!
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
Men’s Elimination Chamber
The Match I Care About The Least
I like them all.
Longest Match
Men’s Elimination Chamber around 40 minutes.
Shortest Match
Becky Lynch vs. AJ Lee around 15 minutes.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
I’m at 7.5 out of 10 for this show. I like the Chamber matches, but some of the stories could be more interesting, which prevents me from going up to 8/10 for a show like this. Match quality should be strong. I just hope there are some surprises to make things more interesting.
I’ll be back with a review of Elimination Chamber on TJRWrestling.net on Saturday. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.
If you want to send an email, send it to me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading.