The WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 had one job: setting the stage for WrestleMania 42. Some parts of the show did exactly that. Others left me scratching my head a little.
We’re going all in here: SmackDown in Louisville, the Chamber in Chicago, and the RAW and SmackDown aftermath. If it happened, I probably have an opinion about it.
This will be a review and my personal commentary on all of the events, as well as the groundwork for my upcoming WrestleMania prediction. If you want to find out what I predicted for the Elimination Chamber beforehand, you should click here. You should also follow me on Instagram to not miss out on any of my upcoming blog posts!
SmackDown Before Elimination Chamber – Louisville, Kentucky
Thank you! Opening SmackDown with Jey Uso in an ambulance was perfect. Is it mean to say that I was happy seeing this? Maybe. Given how obvious it was that Bronson Reed should have won that triple-threat qualifier on Monday on RAW, this was a really clever fix. After Jey pinned “The Original” El Grande Americano on Monday, following Bronson’s injury, I really feared we were getting a 10-minute yeeting segment on one of the pods at Elimination Chamber, but a mysterious attacker taking Jey out of the equation and creating another qualifier was well played.
The additional qualifier between Jacob Fatu and Logan Paul followed, and going with Logan was absolutely the right call. Not just wrestling-wise, but also story-wise.
The face-off between the men’s Chamber participants, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Trick Williams, and Je’Von Evans also worked well. Once again, Trick Williams stood out. That man just gets it.
The Women’s Tag Team Championship match between Rhiyo and the Irresistible Forces was technically a very good match. But … no. Rhiyo has been amazing, carrying those titles – and I mean carrying. I just don’t see the Irresistible Forces being convincing champions right now. For me, this makes the Road to WrestleMania feel a little bumpier. Additionally, this result made the women’s Elimination Chamber match more predictable.
But not everything on this SmackDown directly mattered for the Chamber. Nonetheless, it still set the tone for the next weeks to come.
Solo Sikoa facing Uncle Howdy made sense within the ongoing MFT vs. Wyatt Sicks feud. Having a singles match inside a larger faction storyline is always a good way to keep things moving forward. The match itself was fine, but it didn’t really grab me. Uncle Howdy winning only to have the lantern taken away again didn’t add much momentum.
The US Open Challenge between Carmelo Hayes and Matt Cardona was more entertaining. It was nice to see Mr. Nervous Tan getting some proper ring time, but at this point, Melo desperately needs a real storyline. Without one, even good matches start to feel repetitive. And while we’re at it: the Ilja Dragunov dynamic just isn’t working for me. It’s missing chemistry, and it’s missing depth.
Another thing that’s starting to feel repetitive and doesn’t work for me is Oba Femi. Since he gave up his NXT title on January 06, there has been so much missed potential. Now he’s bouncing between RAW and SmackDown just to squash jobbers in under a minute. We still haven’t actually seen him wrestle a real match. At the moment, it just doesn’t catch me and is rather annoying.
Jordynne Grace facing Candice LeRae was solid, though. I’m really enjoying Jordynne’s presence, and Candice continues to grow on me.
WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 – Chicago, Illinois
Women’s Elimination Chamber Match: A Strong Opener
The Women’s Elimination Chamber was genuinely fun. Everyone showed up. Alexa Bliss’ ring gear? Obsessed. Kiana James keeps winning me over every time she steps in the ring, but please, someone burn that bag. Rhea Ripley’s win was predictable, but it was also the right choice. Realistically, she was the only one in that match who could physically challenge Jade Cargill. What I’m less excited about are the consequences this result might have going forward … but that’s a discussion for another article – my WrestleMania prediction. This would be the perfect time to follow me on Instagram so you don’t miss any of my upcoming blog posts.
Becky Lynch vs AJ Lee for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship
This was, in many ways, predictable as well.
AJ returned for her first singles match in over a decade in her chosen home of Chicago, so the emotional moment was already built into her side of the story. But from a wrestling standpoint, Becky was clearly the stronger performer in this match. AJ is a legend, no question about that. I just struggle with the idea of someone appearing occasionally and immediately walking away with a title. Another thing that didn’t quite work for me was the finish. Becky, tapping out for the third time to the Black Widow, felt a little lazy. I understand that it supports Becky’s character, but the moment would have felt much bigger if AJ had won by pinfall instead. This also would’ve positioned her as a much stronger opponent moving forward. Right now, this feud is largely happening on Becky’s back. She’s the one doing most of the heavy lifting to keep the story moving.
One detail I really liked, though, was Jessika Carr as the referee. That was a smart choice. And considering the history between Lynch and Carr, it also quietly reopens that little storyline thread. Months ago, I joked that I needed Becky Lynch vs. Jessika Carr at WrestleMania. Honestly? I still kind of want it. Do I think Triple H would actually have the guts to book it? Probably not. But a girl can dream.
CM Punk vs. Finn Balor for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
No. No, no, no.
Yes, the outcome was predictable. But repeating the RAW match from Belfast in almost the exact same way felt completely unnecessary. Bringing Finn back into this storyline only to have him lose again does nothing for his character. It actually makes him look worse. Punk wins clean, Finn loses clean, and the story basically resets to where we already were. The wrestling itself was fine. Solid. But that’s not really the issue here. The problem is the storytelling. Yes, the show did give us a cute moment in Chicago with the “family of champions”, AJ Lee and CM Punk, celebrating together. And I get why WWE wanted that visual. But the real question is whether it was worth sacrificing Finn Balor for it?
The Wooden Crate Reveal
… this was such a disappointment.
From what I’ve seen so far, fans seem to be split into two camps: either you absolutely loved the reveal and Danhausen being inside the box, or you were deeply underwhelmed. I’m firmly in the second group. What the hell was that? I’m gonna hold your hand while I say this: the problem isn’t Danhausen. The problem is how this entire reveal was handled. Both Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce opened the crate together, and then they just walked away? Without saying anything? If both General Managers are involved in this as much as they were, this crate automatically sets the expectations high. The presentation also felt incredibly cheap. The dancers? Yes girls, go give us nothing. Instead of an actual staging … it just kind of happened. No build-up. No big moment. They open it, Danhausen is there, and then everyone just walks away. End of segment.
And if we think about this realistically for a second, that crate was supposedly being shipped around for about three weeks. A living person surviving in there the entire time? Not exactly believable. Sure, you could argue that Danhausen’s whole gimmick allows for that kind of supernatural logic – fine. But then at least commit to the bit. He was still appearing at public events and giving interviews in the weeks leading up to the show. If you want the reveal to work, you can’t break the illusion like that.
What makes it even more frustrating is that this crate had been teased for weeks. Fans were speculating, theories were everywhere, and expectations were building. WWE had plenty of time to see what people were hoping for and somehow turn the sinking ship around. It was hyped as a major game-changer for the Elimination Chamber. Instead, it landed with a thud. It was simply pathetic.
Men’s Elimination Chamber Match: Strong Action, Complicated Fallout
This match itself was of high quality from a wrestling standpoint as well. I’m especially shouting out Logan Paul here. He delivered an excellent performance, and his three eliminations worked really well for the story. Love him or hate him, he knows how to create moments that carry a match.
And then all hell broke loose: using a second decoy masked man was a clever idea. It helped keep the mystery alive for one more second, even though the moment itself didn’t hit quite as hard as it could have. Then came the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Seth Rollins’ return. The way he snuck in was cool, no doubt about that. But I’m not completely convinced about the timing. His two biggest enemies in this storyline, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, are currently out injured indefinitely. So, bringing Seth back now raises some questions for me: who will he go after? Why bring him back now? Why not wait until the actual feud can fully continue? Logan Paul and Austin Theory as temporary targets? I’m not sure that’s enough. That being said, the moment Seth had with Cody Rhodes was interesting. After everything surrounding Crown Jewel last year, those two being pulled back into the same orbit could absolutely lead somewhere.
In the end, it came down to Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, with Drew McIntyre interfering and ultimately handing the victory to Randy. It was … okay. But the story took another turn almost immediately when Nick Aldis announced that Drew McIntyre would face Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Championship on SmackDown the following Friday – the exact scenario Drew had been so desperately trying to prevent.
RAW After The Elimination Chamber – Indianapolis, Indiana
One thing I immediately noticed: the matches on this RAW felt longer than usual. Not necessarily bad, just noticeable. Again, not everything in this episode was directly tied to the events of Elimination Chamber.
Opening the show with Gunther vs. Dragon Lee was refreshing. Gunther usually appears much later in the show, so seeing him start RAW for once was a nice change. The wrestling itself was fantastic, and Gunther winning was a complete no-brainer.
Rusev is back, which I personally LOVE! The Oba Femi presentation still isn’t working for me. I was hoping we’d finally see some real wrestling from him or at least a clear storyline starting here, but the same issue remains. Maybe next week.
The story between “The Original” El Grande Americano and El Grande Americano and Los Americanos really is my last straw. In AAA, this dynamic works perfectly, with “The Original” as the heel and El Grande Americano as the national treasure. On RAW, it just feels dragged out and oddly exhausting. Hopefully, this whole thing finally leads somewhere meaningful at WrestleMania so we can move on.
Of course, the championship match for the WWE Intercontinental Title between Dominik Mysterio and Penta was something to talk about. As much as I enjoy Dom as champion, this moment worked perfectly for Finn’s story. Finn stopping JD from handing Dom the bell hammer to cheat was a clever twist, and the finish made a lot of sense. (And yes, I’ve seen some truly wild videos about this title and Penta lately. Let’s all take a deep breath for a second. It’s really not that deep.)
But the Elimination Chamber left some bruises, and RAW started patching them up.
The Vision really was working overtime on Monday. And I love it. I’ll openly admit it: I’m a fan of The Vision. Put Logan Paul and Austin Theory in the tag team division for now, while the Brons are out injured, and let chaos unfold from there. More masked men appearing to lure Logan and Austin out, so Seth Rollins could handle the wise man, Paul Heyman, was great cinema! Still, WWE needs to be careful with Seth right now. If he appears too often before he’s fully back, the whole “Burn It Down” moment will lose its impact. That actual final return must feel huge. Also, LA Knight as the ambulance driver for Paul Hayman was ridiculously funny.
The Danhausen segment with Adam Pearce worked much better than the crate reveal at the Chamber. Even though the introduction was messy, the character itself seems fun. Good first appearance of him!
AJ Lee, now the Women’s Intercontinental Champion, had a mic segment as well. I’ll be honest: I’m not the biggest fan of her promos. Her idea of becoming a fighting champion like CM Punk sounds good in theory, but announcing a single six-woman number one contender match feels like a missed opportunity. The women’s division is incredibly strong right now; splitting that into at least two triple threats would have given some of the women more time to shine. And the biggest disappointment of the night? Not a single women’s match on the show.
The episode closed with a Roman Reigns and CM Punk promo, and Pepsi Phil clearly has Zebro Zebraxton exactly where he wants him. At this point, I’m fully ready to see Punk end this whole “Acknowledge Me” crap at WrestleMania. I think AJ would recommend therapy for those issues.
Smackdown After The Elimination Chamber – Portland, Oregon
SmackDown continued the fallout from Elimination Chamber, though not every segment really needed to be there.
The Randy Orton promo felt a bit unnecessary, even though Trick Williams showing up again was fun. It didn’t really add anything to the story, but seeing Trick is always entertaining.
The Danhausen segment was similar to the one on RAW and once again pretty enjoyable. Pairing him with The Miz could actually be fun, and honestly, Miz deserves a proper push again. I’m here for Mizhausen!
The Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill face-off on the other hand … oh boy. After all the things Jade has been saying on X, this segment had real potential at the start. But once the microphones were on, the difference between the two became very obvious. Jade seems to have a much bigger mouth online than on the mic. Rhea, on the other hand, was completely on point. Everything she said landed, and the crowd clearly felt it. And honestly, Jade’s title reign has been a snooze so far. She defeated Tiffany Stratton for the title on November 1st, 2025, and since then, we’ve only seen five televised matches with just one title defense. Next week’s Jade Cargill vs. Michin match also feels rather trivial, considering the position the title should have. One small moment I loved, though: Rhea’s hairpin referencing Iyo Sky. That was such a sweet detail.
Cody Rhodes facing Drew McIntyre for the WWE Undisputed Championship was good from a wrestling perspective. Drew’s aura in matches like this is incredible, and personally, I’m completely fine with Cody getting the title back. It was obvious, and I just hope that Drew will get a proper storyline going into WrestleMania that does NOT include Jacob Fatu: him showing up during that match felt completely unnecessary.
Outside of the Chamber fallout, the US Open Challenge between Carmelo Hayes and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. was one of the most unexpectedly fun moments of the night. It was so random that it actually worked. Everyone watching AAA will agree that this got a huge pop in my living room! That being said, Carmelo still desperately needs an actual storyline. I also still need a break from Ilja Dragunov.
Then there was the 5 Tag Team Turmoil match to determine the number 1 contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship. This confused me at first, but it turned out to be a fun format. The bigger problem is that it highlighted something else: this is basically the entire SmackDown tag team division right now … and that’s a little worrying. Somehow, the new number one contenders turned out to be the “team” of Damian Priest and R-Truth, which raises even more questions.
Johnny Gargano was about to overcome his depressive personality crisis, only for Oba Femi to … well, I think you know where I’m going with this.
The highlight of the night was, once again, the women’s tag team division with Charlexa facing Giulia and Kiana James. Kiana showing up without that ridiculous bag was already a small victory, and her wrestling keeps getting better and better. I’d love to see her get a proper singles push soon. Given that Lady Flammer from AAA called out for a challenger from either RAW or SmackDown at Rey de Reyes (March 14), I could imagine it being Giulia to break up the tag team with Kiana. Charlotte and Alexa were great as always, and Charlotte’s ring gear and makeup deserve their own shoutout.
If Elimination Chamber was supposed to set the stage for WrestleMania 42, then the picture is still … mixed. Some stories really gained momentum and moved forward in the last couple of shows. Others still feel like a puzzle, where you start questioning your own sanity while solving it. Either way, WrestleMania 42 is getting closer, and the real question now is whether WWE can turn the chaos and some of the repetitiveness into real storylines.
In my next post, I’ll break down exactly what I think will happen next and what the matchcard for both WrestleMania days will look like.
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