The next stop on the journey to WrestleMania 37 takes center stage on Sunday night as the annual Elimination Chamber event streams live on the WWE Network. As part of the Road to WrestleMania experience each year, the events of the Elimination Chamber always carry some major implications ahead of the biggest show of the year. This year’s edition of the pay-per-view will certainly be no different.
The Elimination Chamber matches will, of course, headline the event. Two competitors begin the match in the ring with a cage surrounding the squared circle and four other competitors in pods surrounding the ring. Every five minutes, one of the four remaining competitors is chosen randomly to enter the match. Competitors are eliminated via pinfall or submission until one is left standing as the winner.
WWE Elimination Chamber goes down from inside the ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Sunday, Feb. 21. The event will begin at 7 p.m. ET and stream live on the WWE Network. The kickoff show to help get the Elimination Chamber festivities started will begin one hour prior at 6 p.m.
Let’s take a look at what we know about Sunday’s Elimination Chamber event.
WWE Elimination Chamber matches
WWE Championship — Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus vs. Kofi Kingston (Elimination Chamber): With it seeming increasingly likely that Edge will choose to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania after winning the Royal Rumble, WWE needs to build toward a Mania bout for McIntyre. All five of the other men in the match are former world champions. The Miz was originally in the match, but gave up his spot in hopes of cashing in the Money in the Bank contract on an exhausted winner, allowing Kingston to win his way into the match. Sheamus won a gauntlet match 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 Uso (Elimination Chamber): Roman Reigns managed to weasel out of a title defense in the Chamber and will now defend his title later in the night against the winner of this Elimination Chamber match. Bryan and Cesaro secured their spots by winning a qualifying match against Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. Zayn and Corbin teamed up to earn their spots by beating Dominik and Rey Mysterio. Uso and Owens were gifted spots in the match by Adam Pearce, putting Reigns’ biggest rival and his biggest backup both in the match.
Universal Championship — Roman Reigns (c) vs. Elimination Chamber winner: As mentioned, Paul Heyman managed to get Reigns out of defending the title inside the Elimination Chamber by stating his contractual obligations were only to defend the title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, not inside the actual structure. Logic suggests Reigns will face Owens one last time as Bryan and Cesaro don’t make sense for a one-off match and neither does a heel vs. heel title defense for Reigns.
Raw Women’s Championship — Asuka (c) vs. Lacey Evans: Evans’ bigger issues are with Charlotte Flair, and her relationship with Ric Flair has certainly intensified their rivalry. Evans was able to punch her ticket to a title match in a singles match with Charlotte with a title shot on the line. Charlotte snapped and attacked Evans, refusing to break and shoving the referee for the disqualification, sending Evans into a match with Asuka. This match appears to be on the verge of being officially canceled with the news that Evans is pregnant, though WWE has not confirmed any changes officially.
United States Championship — Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Keith Lee vs. Riddle: Lashley has been a force of nature since failing to win the Royal Rumble. After brutally attacking Riddle in a match on Raw, Lashley again struck after Lee defeated Riddle in singles action, taking out both men. Following the attack, the triple threat match was announced for the Elimination Chamber event.
Women’s Tag Team Championship — Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair: This match was announced on the go-home edition of SmackDown. During the broadcast, the champs appearing on “Ding Dong, Hello!” led to chaos and a six-person tag with the SmackDown women’s champ and the Royal Rumble winner that also featured Bayley and Reginald.