The Elimination Chamber was live from CM Punk’s territory in Chicago at the United Center for a four-card PLE with huge stakes for the titular match that bookended the event. The attendance tonight was 19,346, with stars like Juice World (a frequent WWE event attendee) and NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo seated in the front row.
At the end of the night, Jade Cargill (blue brand champ) and Drew McIntyre (the world titlist) would learn exactly who they will face at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas. Last year’s Chamber capped off with a major angle that ended with Cena turning heel, so the fans’ expectations for a major Mania narrative were high coming into tonight.
ELIMINATION CHAMBER
Men’s Winner: Randy Orton
Order of Entry:
(1) Cody Rhodes
(2) Je’Von Evans
(3) Trick Williams
(4) Logan Paul
(5) LA Knight
(6) Randy Orton
We saw each man enter the match before the first superstar was eliminated, and that was Je’Von Evans. Evans, who many were surprised to see qualify, hit a modified frog splash on Williams before Logan Paul pinned him. Many expected Evans to at least hit a huge cutter, similar to the big spots we have seen from him in back-to-back Monday Night RAWs.
The trend of Logan Paul pinning superstars continued with both LA Knight and Trick Williams, in that order. It was an impressive showing from Logan, but his luck ran out when the masked man came out to finally reveal himself.
At first, a man in a mask came out and was quickly stopped by security, similar to what we saw on Friday Night SmackDown. However, the masked man was just a decoy meant to throw off WWE officials who had, up to this point, expected only one masked individual at a time.
It was then that a second masked man made his way into the ring and hit Logan Paul with a ‘curb stomp’ that Cody quickly took advantage of—with a smile on his face. After Cody picked up the pin, Seth Rollins revealed himself to be the man in the mask and likely the one behind everything post Austin Theory.
It seemed like Cody would take the momentum into a Chamber victory. However, Drew McIntyre came through the door (how and why it was still open, who knows?) and cost Cody the match as ‘The Viper’ took advantage to gain the win and the shot at McIntyre at Mania for his world title.
Women’s Winner: Rhea Ripley
Order of Entry
(1) Kianna James
(2) Tiffany Stratton
(3) Auska
(4) Alexa Bliss
(5) Rhea Ripley
(6) Raquel Rodriguez
The match suffered from a slow start, but ultimately closed well, with the right superstar’s hand raised at its conclusion. Kianna James actually had the run of things early in the match, but if she stood out, it was mostly because the rest of the field seemed to have little direction. Many believed that Raquel Rodriguez, the last to qualify for the match, would complete Liv Morgan’s prediction that would see both of them challenge for the two women’s world titles on back-to-back nights for Mania.
In the end, Rhea picked up the victory to set the stage for a massive showdown between her and SD women’s champion Jade Cargill. Two of the strongest superstars on the roster, Rhea and Jade, represent a dream match to top the card on the women’s side of Mania.
CM PUNK(c) vs. FINN BALOR—WWE Heavyweight Title
CM Punk and Finn Balor ran back the banger they produced back on RAW several weeks ago in the challenger’s home country of Ireland. In that match, Balor took Punk to the limit on his home turf, but it was not enough to take the title that night. The very next week, Punk challenged Balor to consider his current place as a heel within The Judgement Day faction, which he considers family.
Finn chose The Judgement Day in the finale of that episode, ruining AJ Styles’s final shot at WWE gold. It was the very next week that we would learn the fate of Punk’s Mania plans as the 2026 Royal Rumble winner, Roman Reigns, wasted no time in selecting his champion.
The match was set and everyone, apart from Finn, felt like his opportunity was all but over—at least, until after Mania. Despite the lack of believability that WWE would risk the mega main event at Mania, Finn was able to secure his title shot.
If the first match was a reminder that both men are still able to put on a classic, tonight’s match was uniquely good with quality mat technician work. Both men ended up with busted mouths in the match—Punk’s busted lip was the worst of the two.
A major narrative in this match was Finn’s insistence that members of Judgement Day not interfere in the match, so it was, of course, expected.
Yet the match saw near-falls before Punk locked in the Sharpshooter, and TJD was nowhere to be found. Many expected Dom to pull his usual schtick of trying to help and making things worse, but nothing of the sort.
In the end, Punk won a clean pinfall victory over Balor with the GTS hit clean following a Punk reversal. It was a terrific finish to a solid match, and yet it felt flat. There was no other payoff to this feud, and it advanced nothing as far as Punk’s Mania plans are concerned.
The post-match saw Punk’s wife, AJ Lee, come down to the ring with her newly won IC title in hand as the two posed down with all the gold.
BECKY LYNCH(c) vs. AJ LEE—Women’s Intercontinental Title
AJ Lee made her return at the tail end of last year when she, along with her husband CM Punk, defeated Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins in mixed tag action in the debut PLE in the new ESPN era (WrestlePalooza). After that match, Lee went ghost as fans continued to fantasy book her singles return against Becky.
AJ Lee went on to win her first WWE gold in 12 years, and she did it by making Becky tap. The likelihood that Becky takes this loss in stride is small, and they will probably end up running it back at Mania—this time with a stip.
THE BOX
After weeks of both GMs sending the ‘box’ back and forth between the red and blue brands, the box was revealed to be Dan Housen. It was highly speculated that Housen would be the ‘surprise,’ especially after his social media posts this week. The Kayfabe vampire came out to a mostly quiet crowd that later booed the segment. Housen, who was accompanied by female dancing vampires in his gimmick makeup.
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