Welcome to Slam Wrestling’s live coverage of WWE Elimination Chamber 2026. This is the last main-roster Premium Live Event (PLE) before WrestleMania weekend and a major stop on the Road to WrestleMania weekend. Tonight’s show emanates from the United Center in Chicago Illinois, and can be streamed on Netflix starting at 7pm Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Four matches have been announced for the show: two title matches and two eponymous Elimination Chamber matches. On the title defense side Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch will defend against AJ Lee while Lee’s husband CM Punk will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Finn Balor.
Meanwhile, the winners of the men’s and women’s chamber matches will earn a shot at the title not already challenged for by the winners of the 2026 Royal Rumble matches. The men’s chamber match will feature Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, LA Knight, Logan Paul, Trick Williams, and Je’Von Evans compete to earn a shot at Undisputed WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. On the women’s side, Asuka, Kiana James, Raquel Rodriguez, Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, and Tiffany Stratton will compete to earn a shot at Jade Cargill’s WWE Women’s Championship.
Match #1: 2026 Women’s Elimination Chamber Match: Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka vs. Kiana James vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Tiffany Stratton
James and Stratton start. They spend most of their time alone in the ring landing basic moves until Stratton lands a counter suplex on the ringside mats. Stratton misses a handspring back elbow and collides with a pod. Asuka is in next but she gets rushed by James. This doesn’t stop Asuka as she turns into a one-woman wrecking crew. Next is Alexa Bliss whose biggest move upon entry is a satellite DDT. James catapults Stratton into a pod. #5 is Rhea Ripley and she drops everything in sight. Bliss’s satellite DDT doesn’t work on her. All five women end up on the same steel section when suddenly Bliss dives onto four of them from atop one of the pods. Bliss attempts Sister Abigail on James when Asuka spits mist in her face. James capitalizes with a roll-up to get the three-count.
Alexa Bliss has been eliminated.
The final entrant is Raquel Rodriguez who, incidentally, is wearing similar attire to Nia Jax. Rodriguez almost takes out a cameraman as she throws Ripley around with a powerbomb. Rodriguez follows with a running powerslam through a pod on James. Asuka goes to capitalize but Rodriguez catches her and Tejana bombs her onto James. Then Rodriguez pins both of those women to eliminate them both.
Asuka & Kiana James have been eliminated.
Rodriguez & Ripley trade power moves until Rodriguez traps Ripley in the chain link wall. Rodriguez sets up a superplex when suddenly she looks up to find Ripley standing a top one of the pods. Then Ripley cannonballs onto Rodriguez which allows Stratton to land the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to pin Rodriguez.
Raquel Rodriguez has been eliminated.
Modified Alabamaslam gets two for Stratton, as does a Swanton Bomb. A PME misses as Ripley tosses her into a pod face-first and then Ripley lands Riptide to score the final fall.
Winner after 24:05: Rhea Ripley.
Rating: 4/10 A poor match with a largely silent crowd and a conveyor belt structure. There were few truly exciting or inspiring spots and much of the action came across sloppy, disjointed, and phony. There was little to no spontaneity or flow from spot to spot. There were no major surprises for most of the match. Most of the eliminations lacked surprise or tension. The only bright spot was Rodriguez with her two-woman elimination. Not exciting enough to be considered a lukewarm opener, much less a hot one.
Match #2: Women’s Intercontinental Championship Match: Becky Lynch [c] vs. AJ Lee
Cole mistakes AJ Lee for AJ Styles as the match begins. Some basic chain grappling and reversals to start. Match slows down with Lynch mouthing off to the crowd. A brief “you can’t wrestle” chant breaks out though it’s not sure for whom. The crowd is so dead even Michael Cole mentions it saying Lynch has taken them out of the match. Yay/boo forearm exchange. Lee attempts a comeback with a bulldog and a running knee strike. Big superplex by Lynch allows the referee to reattach the turnbuckle pad Lynch removed earlier. This of course sets up a ref bump and a roll-up for two. Lee ducks a roundhouse kick which then hits the referee. Lynch taps to AJ Lee’s Black Widow but there’s no referee to call the decision. A “you tapped out chant” starts as Lynch takes the fight to ringside. Lynch attempts a DDT onto a chair in the ring but Lee misses the chair completely. Lynch’s subsequent Manhandle slam only gets a two and finally this crowd wakes up. Lynch attempts a toss into the exposed corner but the ref stops it due to the still-unresolved earlier corner. Then Lynch is hoited by her own petard and runs into the exposed buckle. Lee follows this with another Black Widow. Lynch taps out again!
Winner and NEW Women’s Intercontinental Champion after 15:30: AJ Lee
Rating: 4/10 Another sloppy match, this one defined by solid character work but weak moves lacking impact. Something about this match made the moves in the ring look far less painful than normal. Lee looked gassed and out of place several times. Most women lacked chemistry and connection as they tried to chain together a longer match than was needed. The middle was rudderless. The crowd was, one again, dead silent outside of a few big spots. The ref bump was another tired and clichéd trope that reared its ugly head once again. The fans popped for Lee quite a bit yet they didn’t seem to care all that much for her when she was in peril. The finish was weak and tacky, something straight out of a darker era when no one could win clean. Lee winning the title got a celebratory pop yet it doesn’t seem like this will be all that groundbreaking once the show ends.
Match #3: World Heavyweight Championship Match: CM Punk [c] vs. Finn Balor
Balor enters the arena alone, vowing to win without help. As for Punk, he gets an extended Cody Rhodes or Goldberg-style entrance, and yet even with this ringing endorsement Punk’s hometown pop is nowhere near as big as expected.
Chain wrestling opens the match. Punk with a big kick to gain control. Then they switch to some brawling and a loud chop exchange. Again, the commentators discuss the completely dead crowd and try to make it seem like a factor affecting the matches. Balor counters a bulldog with an abdominal stretch. The action slows down despite Punk making a comeback. Is the entire roster wrestling while sick or something? Punk tries to wake everyone up with a suicide dive. Balor counters a GTS with a small package for two. Balor avoids a superplex. Punk avoids a Coup de Grâce. Punk is bleeding from the mouth and may have an injured rib. Punk with an Anaconda Vise. Balor counters with an inside cradle for two, some Danielson collar elbows, his 1916 inverted DDT and a successful Coup de Grâce to the injured ribs…all for two. Punk counters another 1916 into a GTS that sends Balor out of the ring. Balor hits a slingblade ringside and a running dropkick that sends Punk through a piece of barricade. Balor hits yet another slingblade to setup another diving stomp. Balor dives but Punk turns it into a sharpshooter. Ropebreak for Balor. Another struggle leads to another GTS for the three-count.
Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion after 17:28: CM Punk
Rating: 5/10 The match started off well enough but fell apart. The match was clunky, plodding and heatless. They took advantage of Punk’s sudden injury by building around Punk’s injured ribs. For one brief moment Balor looked like he might force a stoppage or a surprise win by making Punk lose due to the weakness of his body in spite of his will. And yet despite sound technique and decent psychology, the crowd just did not care at all. No heat, no pops, no sustained cheering. That was by far the most shocking thing of the match and the night thus far: after so many years of fans chanting Punk’s name at inopportune moments and in some cases to troll the people in the ring, Punk finally wrestles and wins in front of his hometown Chicago crowd and THIS is the reception he gets?
After a long pause we finally see what’s in the box. Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce open the box to unveil…a coffin…and out comes DANHAUSEN! Flanked by several women dressed in similar make-up, Danhausen makes his way to the ring, hands Cole a jar full of teeth, and then disappears. The crowd boos. Michael Cole: “What the hell was that?”
Match #4: 2026 Men’s Elimination Chamber Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Je’Von Evans vs. LA Knight vs. Logal Paul vs. Randy Orton vs. Trick Williams
Rhodes & Williams start. Big gourbuster from Rhodes for an early two-count. Evans gets a moment to bounce around a bit as the next entrant, Trick Williams, leaves his pod. Williams drops Evans with a nasty chop but Rhodes covers Williams for two. Williams with a double chokeslam on both guys for more near-falls. Stiff chops for everyone. The next entrant is Logan Paul and everyone gangs up on him. Paul recovers and attacks everyone else in succession. LA Knight is in next and he goes after Paul. Paul ends up trapped atop a pod with Evans and Paul on opposite sides. Then those two guys throw him onto Rhodes and Williams below. Evans and Knight battle atop said pod and Knight spikes Evans on the roof with his BFT finisher as the final entrant Randy Orton comes in and runs wild. Double draping DDTs on Williams & Paul. Evans hits a frog splash onto Evans from the top of a pod but then Paul drops him with his finisher to get the first elimination.
Je’Von Evans has been eliminated.
Knight catches Rhodes, hoists him onto his shoulder, and lands a sort of Burning Hammer for two after an awkward cover. Knight trips and botches his own diving stomp but tries bouncing back with a BFT on Williams. Then Paul hits a low blow on Knight and covers him to get another alimination.
LA Knight has been eliminated.
Williams battles with Paul but Williams avoids Paul’s finisher. However, he can’t avoid Cross Rhodes. But then Paul steals Rhodes’ cover and eliminates Williams.
Trick Williams has been eliminated.
As Williams leaves another masked individual tries entering the ring. he makes it up halfway up the chamber when he is swarmed by officials, removed, and unmasked as some random guy. Meanwhile another masked man comes in and drops Paul with a stomp…and reveals himself to be Seth Rollins. Rollins’s stomp allows Rhodes to eliminate Paul
Logan Paul has been eliminated.
Rollins leaves through the crowd and we’re down to two: Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. Through all of this no one has bothered to lock the chamber door which allows Drew McIntyre to interfere and attack Rhodes. Both of them beat up McIntyre, but then Orton lands an RKO on Rhodes to steal the victory.
Winner after 25:20: Randy Orton
Rating: 5.5/10 An end-heavy and overbooked chamber match defined not by anything that happened in this match but by outside forces. The two interference spots were more important than anything else that happened in the chamber. Like the women’s match earlier there was nothing all that exciting during most of the match until the final entrant came in. Most of the action was paint-by-numbers and not even that exciting or high-risk by Elimination Chamber match standards. There was no real tension. The few bright spots prior to the interference were forgettable. And once again, the crowd barely reacted. Compared to last year’s main-event Chamber situation this came across as a horrendous underperformance. Even the finish here was poorly done with McIntyre coming across as a chump for looking so vulnerable against two worn-down combattants. But at least the end was a welcome surprise with Orton getting the unexpected win in deserved fashion. All in all, a decidedly below-average chamber.
Overall Show Rating: 4.5/10 This was a bad show, one that’s definitely worth skipping. A four-match show didn’t need to go two hours; they could’ve cut some of the matches, reduced the length of the breaks, and gotten rid of some of the dead air and this would’ve been more of an airtight PLE. As for the wrestling, nothing was all that exciting. Every single match was average or below, with some botches, possible injuries, and at least two wardrobe malfunctions. But worst of all was the crowd: they were so unenthusiastic that they cast a pall over the atmosphere, barely reacting to what were supposed to be big moments. For a city reputed to be home to some of the most passionate and vocal wrestling fans in the world, they dropped the ball tonight more than any wrestler to step foot in the ring.
Updates to Elimination Chamber will come throughout the night so be sure to check back with Slam Wrestling for all your pro wrestling needs…
You can personalise your Google settings to see more stories from slamwrestling.net when you search for wrestling news.
Google’s Preferred Sources feature lets you choose the websites you trust most. Once added, Google is more likely to show SLAM in Top Stories and the “from your sources” section.
- Click this link to take you directly to Google’s “Source preferences” page.
- Sign into your Google account.
- Search for slamwrestling.net.
- Tick the box next to Slam Wrestling.
Adding SLAM as a Preferred Source helps you see more of our news, features, and exclusive coverage in Google search.
