The next pay-per-view (PPV) in WWE programming is the Elimination chamber event scheduled to take place next Sunday (February 21, 2021) at ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. This is an event that the company uses annually as a bridge Royal Rumble for WrestleMania; this year will be accompanied by Fastlane on March 21st.
Five games are official for the card:
- Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Sheamus vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz vs. Randy Orton in an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship
Signs pointed to a singles match between former friends McIntyre and Sheamus, but Shane McMahon returned on February 8. Crude and reserved a Chamber full of former WWE champions as a challenge for the current one.
They will have a Gauntlet Match in tomorrow’s episode to determine which pod door will open last on PPV.
- Kevin Owens vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn vs. King Corbin vs. Jey Usage in a Elimination Chamber match to determine contender # 1 for the Universal title
- Roman Reigns (c) against the winner of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match for the Universal Championship
Untitled Kayfabe official Adam Pearce tried to schedule Reigns at a Chamber match as his Raw counterpart, but the Tribal Chief and his special adviser said it was not so quick. He would defend his title in Elimination chamber, but not in the Elimination Chamber. Roman wins the winner of the SmackDown Chamber fight later that night.
Pearce responded by placing two ex-opponents in confrontation # 1 – nemesis KO de Reigns and his cousin Jey. Zayn & Corbin and Bryan & Cesaro qualified by winning tag matches.
- Asuka (c) against Lacey Evans for Raw Women’s title
Ric Flair won this title shot for his special client / friend by winning a # 1 dispute against his daughter Charlotte, and then enraging the younger Flair so that she would be disqualified from said # 1 dispute.
- Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Keith Lee vs. Riddle for the Intercontinental Championship
Lee’s return wondered if perhaps he shouldn’t have the next chance to become CEO of The Hurt Business, since The Bro was unable to take off the Lashley belt. They had a fight, Limitless One won, so Bobby eliminated both. This Triple Threat was announced shortly afterwards.
In addition to these fights, Lana and Naomi won a chance against WWE women’s champion Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler, but the date has not yet been announced. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair mingled with Jax and Belair last Friday Smash, and tonight’s NXT Women’s Dusty Cup winners TakeOver: Day of Vengeance show will also win a shot at the title.
Another fight for the Apollo Crews / Big E Intercontinental Championship seems inevitable, and Street Profits continues to try to reclaim the SmackDown Tag titles from Dirty Dawgs Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode.
We will probably only have a few more matches added to the line-up on February 21st, however. House fights will need time and WWE has done a good job of keeping PPVs around for three hours lately.
Reflections on how the Elimination Chamber is shaping up, Cagesiders?