WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 — Chicago, Illinois | Event Recap:

The Men's and Women's Elimination Chamber Winners, as Rhea Ripley will go on to WrestleMania to take on Jade Cargill for the WWE Women's Title. As for Randy Orton, he'll face Drew McIntyre for the WWE Undisputed Title at WrestleMania. (Image Courtesy of WWE)

WWE Elimination Chamber: The Official Match Results:

Opening Match: Rhea Ripley defeats Alexa Bliss and Asuka and Kiana James and Raquel Rodriguez and Tiffany Stratton in a WWE Women’s Title No. 1 Contender’s Elimination Chamber Match | via Pin-Fall — (23:45)

Second Match: AJ Lee defeats Becky Lynch (c) in a WWE Women’s Intercontinental Title Match | via Submission — (15:30)

Third Match: CM Punk (c) defeats Finn Bálor in a WWE World Heavyweight Title Match | via Pin-Fall — (20:21)

Main Event: Randy Orton defeats Cody Rhodes and Je’Von Evans and LA Knight and Logan Paul and Trick Williams in a WWE Undisputed Title No. 1 Contender’s Elimination Chamber Match | via Pin-Fall — (25:20)

Event Analysis: WWE Elimination Chamber Overall Event Breakdown: This event delivered a mix of strong in-ring performances and inconsistent creative direction. While the undercard featured standout technical wrestling and compelling championship storytelling, the main event suffered from excessive interference and uneven booking decisions. The crowd remained engaged throughout, particularly during major returns and hometown moments, but the overall structure of the show lacked cohesion.

The Match Ratings & Analysis:

Opening Match: Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka vs. Kiana James vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Tiffany Stratton in a WWE Women’s Title No. 1 Contender’s Elimination Chamber Match Match Rating: ★★★

Match Analysis: The best Chamber Match from the show, but why did it have to be only twenty-three minutes long? Usually Chamber matches take around 40-50 minutes long, but hey, they need to get the ads, and Danhausen, am I right? This match had some highs and lows. But the MVP of this match for me was Kiana James & Raquel Rodriguez who have solid performances in this match, Kiana James is someone that WWE has been booking very expectionally as she is young, and they need to start to sort out the future but she been having a very solid start to her 2026 year, Raquel Rodriguez was the monster of this match she eliminated a lot of competitors from this match she was involved in some cool spots but Triple H really loves her as she's always displayed highly in any match she's in. But we came down to the last two with Rhea Ripley and Tiffany Stratton. It was a fine back-and-forth, but as we know, with the rumors swirling, Rhea Ripley got the win, and a very highly marquee matchup is now in-stone for WrestleMania, as Jade Cargill will defend her WWE Women's Title against Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 42. This is going to be fun, as I can see Jade Cargill having a match that surpasses her Kris Statlander match if it’s given ample time.

Second Match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. AJ Lee in a WWE Women’s Intercontinental Title Match

Rating: ★★.50 Analysis: I have a few issues with this match. One Becky Lynch gimmick at this moment is very awful. I get it, she's an obnoxious heel, but. It gets to a point where something runs its course. AJ Lee had her first singles match since 2015, but she was very clunky and had some mishaps, which hapepns but I felt like she should've had some reps in, like some matches on RAW to get the in-ring rust off. But this match was very average to me there was a lot of miscues, a lot of botches, and Becky Lynch botched a chair spot twice. It was a mess in my opinion, but do I think they can have a better match at WrestleMania? Maybe if AJ Lee gets some reps in because those matter, it helps the wrestler get back in the swing of things, as it adds a lot of needed confidence. But the match started getting a little entertaining once AJ Lee was back in the ring with the referee back up as she started ramming away this is when I knew AJ Lee was going to win she's in Chicago she is going to get another major Chicago moment as she locked in the Black Widow to submit Becky Lynch to win her 1st Mid-Card Title in WWE, and her title win in almost twelve years this was a major moment as the crowd erpted. I always enjoyed AJ Lee, just want her to get some reps. But I'm happy she got her moment, but now we know a AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch II will take place at the Showcase of the Immortals at WrestleMania.

Third Match: CM Punk (c) vs. Finn Bálor in a WWE World Heavyweight Title Match

Match Rating: ★★★★ Match Analysis: A very fun professional wrestling match with no interferences, with no outside drama, just two very good in-ring wrestlers having a ball. This was the only good thing about this show, as CM Punk, who walked out to the Chicago Bulls entrance repping his hometown with amazing attire, had home-field advantage. Finn Bálor was looking to become a 2x WWE World Champion, trying to erase his past and finally be a World Champion again. The in-ring psychology of this match was great. There was a lot of chain-wrestling. Finn Bálor weakened CM Punk by attacking the chest and ribs, like stiff like that, which is why I love wrestling. He was trying to weaken his oppenent trying to get him down, so he can try to get the win. CM Punk was fighting back, it was gritty, old-school & bad-ass. Finn Bálor had a great performance in this match. He was clicking on every cylinder. You can tell he was having a very fun time. Finn Bálor found an opening where he delivered the Coup de Grâce, but CM Punk kicked out. Finn Bálor delivered a shotgun dropkick on the outside, where CM Punk went through the barricade. This was excellent stuff. But with the closing moments, CM Punk hit a G.T.S. in which Finn Bálor, with a high IQ move, rolled out of the ring, but with 2nd time the charm. CM Punk hit the G.T.S. as he retained his WWE World Heavyweight Title. Amazing Match, the only bright spot from this awful show. Finn Bálor seemingly confirmed his babyface turn as he paid respect to CM Punk by shaking his hand. Now that the Prince is back to being a good guy, CM Punk can focus on the big task at hand with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42. The build starts now.

Main Event: Cody Rhodes vs. Je’Von Evans vs. LA Knight vs. Logan Paul vs. Randy Orton vs. Trick Williams in a WWE Undisputed Title No. 1 Contender’s Elimination Chamber Match

Match Rating: ★.50

Match Analysis: Abysmal, lazy booking, and flat-out garbage. I went into this match genuinely excited because it featured two of the company’s future centerpieces in Je'Von Evans and Trick Williams. I expected strong performances and meaningful ring time for both of them. Instead, we got the complete opposite. The match actually started on a good note, with Cody Rhodes and Je'Von Evans opening. Their in-ring work was enjoyable, nothing overly flashy, just solid wrestling as they tried to wear each other down, with Je'Von showcasing some fun offense. Then Mr. Whoop That Trick entered to a huge crowd reaction and immediately clicked with Cody, clearly having fun in there. A great callback to NXT followed when Je'Von went face-to-face with one of his major rivals, and they traded offense. At that point, it felt like a strong foundation: two young talents holding their own with the face of the company. Then Logan Paul entered, and everything went downhill. Whether he just brings negative energy or not, once he got in, the match started to stink. He was sloppy, spamming big high-impact moves without any build or real in-ring psychology. Big spots mean nothing if you don’t earn them, and he simply wasn’t doing anything good. LA Knight came in next and went right after "The Vision" Logan Paul, still having unfinished business with the group that sidelined him for months. There was a legitimately cool spot where Je'Von and LA Knight threw Logan off the top of the pod, followed by LA Knight hitting a nasty B.F.T. on Je'Von that took him out. Randy Orton, the most experienced man in the match, was the final entrant. Before he could do much, Je'Von hit a Five-Star Splash on Trick Williams, only for Logan Paul to follow with his finisher. He botched it so badly that he spiked Je'Von on his neck, and Je'Von became the first elimination. This is where the booking completely fell apart. Creative easily could have pivoted, but instead, they basically handed Logan Paul everything Bronson Reed was supposed to do. Logan eliminated both LA Knight and Trick Williams to basically no crowd reaction. Social media was furious, and the backlash was immediate. A masked man appeared again, seemingly repeating the earlier decoy angle. This led to one of the only two good moments of the match: Seth Rollins returned and revealed himself as the real masked man. Paul Heyman’s shock was great, and Logan Paul getting Curb Stomped and eliminated was one of the few genuinely satisfying beats. But the overbooking continued. WWE Undisputed Champion Drew McIntyre ran in and attacked Cody Rhodes with the title. Randy Orton hit an RKO on Drew, then told Cody to hit a Cross Rhodes. Right after, we got the second-best moment of the match: Orton hitting a sneaky RKO out of nowhere on Cody to win. Now he’s heading to WrestleMania chasing his 15th world title. All in all, this was flat-out terrible, worse than the 2015 Elimination Chamber match where Ryback won the Intercontinental Title. Just garbage, driven by lazy booking. The company drew over 19,000 people and still delivered an abysmal show. I’m not surprised, but it’s clear the product has been reeking this year. I’m especially frustrated with how the young talent was handled and how uninspired and lazy the creative has become.

Match of the Night: CM Punk (c) vs. Finn Bálor in a WWE World Heavyweight Title Match — This was the Match of the Night as they went back into a Professional Wrestling based-style match, which delivered big-time. This could be a great formula for matches in WWE instead of trying to get hype moments and views. This match shows why professional wrestling rocks.

Overall Event Grade: 3.75/10 (D) — Abysmal show all-around. I discussed in the Analysis why it was awful. Now, we're heading to WrestleMania with a lot of hope lost, as creative has been awful this year.