The next stop on the journey to WrestleMania 37 is in the spotlight on Sunday night, with the annual Elimination Chamber event broadcast live on the WWE Network. As part of the Road to WrestleMania experience each year, the Elimination Chamber events always carry some important implications before the biggest show of the year. This year’s edition of pay-per-view is certainly no different.
The elimination chamber matches will obviously be the headline of the event. Two contestants start the fight in the ring with a cage around the square circle and four other contestants in pods around the ring. Every five minutes, one of the remaining four contestants is chosen at random to enter the match. Competitors are eliminated by pinfall or submission until one of them is the winner.
WWE Elimination Chamber falls from inside the ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Sunday, February 21. The opening show to help start the Elimination Chamber festivities will begin an hour earlier, at 6 pm.
Let’s take a look at what we know about Sunday’s Elimination Chamber event.
WWE Elimination Chamber Games
WWE Championship – Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus vs. Kofi Kingston (Elimination Chamber): With Edge increasingly likely to choose to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania after winning the Royal Rumble, WWE needs to prepare for a Mania fight for McIntyre. All five other men in the match are former world champions. The Miz was originally in the fight, but gave up his place in the hope of winning money from the Money in the Bank contract on an exhausted winner, allowing Kingston to win his seat in the match. Sheamus won a gauntlet fight to secure his position as the final man who will enter the Elimination Chamber.
King Corbin vs. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Sami Zayn vs. Jey Usage (Elimination Chamber): Roman Reigns managed to escape a title defense in the House and will now defend his title at the end of the night against the winner of this Elimination Chamber match. Bryan and Cesaro secured their seats by winning a qualifying match against Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. Zayn and Corbin teamed up to win their places by defeating Dominik and Rey Mysterio. Uso and Owens were Adam Pearce’s privileged points in the match, putting Reigns’ biggest rival and biggest reserve in the fight.
Universal Championship – Roman Reigns (c) vs. Elimination Chamber Winner: As mentioned, Paul Heyman managed to get Reigns to defend the title within the Elimination Chamber by declaring that his contractual obligations were only to defend the title at the the Elimination Chamber’s pay-per-view, not within the structure itself. Logic suggests that Reigns will face Owens one last time, since Bryan and Cesaro make no sense for a single match and neither a heel vs. title defense.
Raw Women Championship – Asuka (c) against Lacey Evans: Evans’ biggest problems are with Charlotte Flair, and his relationship with Ric Flair has certainly intensified his rivalry. Evans got his ticket to a title shot in a singles match against Charlotte with a shot at the title. Charlotte grabbed and attacked Evans, refusing to break and pushing the referee to disqualification, sending Evans into a fight with Asuka. This match appears to be about to be officially canceled with the news that Evans is pregnant, although WWE has not officially confirmed any changes.
United States Championship – Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Keith Lee vs. Riddle: Lashley has been a force of nature since he failed to win the Royal Rumble. After brutally attacking Riddle in a fight on Raw, Lashley attacked again after Lee defeated Riddle in an individual fight, eliminating the two men. After the attack, the triple threat match was announced for the Elimination Chamber event.
Women’s Tag Team Championship – Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair: This match was announced in the home edition of SmackDown. During the broadcast, the champions appear on “Ding Dong, Hello!” it led to chaos and a six-person tag with the female champion of SmackDown and the winner of the Royal Rumble that also featured Bayley and Reginald.