Elimination Chamber 2026: Key facts, history, and favorites heading to WrestleMania 42

Less than two months away from WrestleMania 42 from Las Vegas in April, this Saturday marks a crucial stop. The United Center in Chicago will be the stage for WWE’s premium live event number 16, Elimination Chamber, where the WrestleMania card will continue to be built. The event will feature Elimination Chamber matches for both men and women, where six wrestlers, surrounded by a steel cage structure, will seek victory by pinfall or submission, until only one winner remains. That wrestler will earn a championship opportunity at WrestleMania. CM Punk will also defend his World Heavyweight Championship in his hometown against Finn Bálor. In addition, the Becky Lynch vs. AJ Lee saga continues with the Women’s Intercontinental Championship on the line.

Men’s Elimination Chamber

Participants: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, LA Knight, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, and Jey Uso.

The first Elimination Chamber match took place 23 years ago at Survivor Series 2002. Shawn Michaels won the match and became World Heavyweight Champion. 36 combined Elimination Chamber matches (men and women) have been held, 11 of which have produced new champions. Triple H and John Cena share the record for most wins in Elimination Chamber, with four each. Daniel Bryan follows with three. Cena is the most recent Elimination Chamber winner, having won the men’s match in 2025. Then, he became the 17th champion, breaking records, at WrestleMania 41. This will be the tenth Elimination Chamber match for Orton, setting a record. Chris Jericho and Cena follow with eight participations. If Orton achieves two eliminations in Saturday’s match, he will tie Jericho for the historical record (10). Orton is the only participant in the match with a victory in Elimination Chamber, obtained in 2014. Rhodes has lost three consecutive PLE matches, since Crown Jewel in October 2025. This is Rhodes’ longest losing streak since he returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 in 2022. On Saturday, Rhodes will make his first appearance at Elimination Chamber since his return to WWE, but not his first overall. In his first stint in WWE, he participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, won by Bryan in 2012. Use won five consecutive PLE matches between November 2024 and August 2025, including his victory for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41. Since then, he has had a four-match losing streak in PLE for the first time since 2020-21. Knight looks to change his luck at Elimination Chamber. It has been more than a year since Knight won a PLE match. Since Crown Jewel in November 2024, he has lost seven consecutive PLE matches.

Women’s Elimination Chamber

Participants: Alexa Bliss, Tiffany Stratton, Rhea Ripley, Asuka, Kiana James, and Raquel Rodriguez. The first women’s Elimination Chamber match took place in 2018. Bliss won the match and retained her “Raw” Women’s Championship. This will be the eighth women’s Elimination Chamber match in history. The only superstar with multiple wins in the Women’s Elimination Chamber is Bianca Belair (2022 and 2025). Bliss or Asuka could join her on that list this weekend. Stratton seeks to avoid her third consecutive loss at a WWE event after Liv Morgan eliminated her to win the Royal Rumble and Stephanie Vaquer defeated her to win the 2025 Crown Jewel Championship. Stratton hasn’t experienced a three-match losing streak in PLE matches since her first three on the main roster in early 2024. Asuka hasn’t won a match at a PLE event since Elimination Chamber in 2024, when the Kabuki Warriors defeated Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championship. Rodriguez could get her first singles victory at a WWE PLE event this weekend. Rodriguez, who holds the women’s record for tag team title reigns with six, has only accumulated tag team victories in her career at WWE PLE events.

Will anyone achieve all the eliminations in this match? Only one wrestler, Shayna Baszler in 2020, has achieved all the eliminations in an Elimination Chamber match.

World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk vs. Finn Bálor

The winner of this match is destined to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. Bálor defeated Reigns on his first night on the main WWE roster, on the July 25, 2016 edition of “Raw”. This will be CM Punk’s first PLE match in Chicago since he defeated Jericho at Payback in 2013. Overall, he has wrestled in six WWE PLE matches from Chicago and has a 4-2 record. One of Punk’s two UFC fights also took place in Chicago. Punk is in the midst of an impressive streak. He hasn’t lost a match in over two months. During that period, he has successfully retained the World Heavyweight Championship in three televised matches against Bron Breakker, AJ Styles, and his opponent at Elimination Chamber, Bálor. It has been two years since Bálor last won a PLE match. In fact, his last victory of this kind was at Elimination Chamber 2024. At that event, he and Damian Priest successfully defended their tag team titles against Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate.

Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch vs. AJ Lee

Lee will compete in his first championship match in over 11 years. His last title match was in December 2014, when he faced Nikki Bella in Tables, Ladders and Chairs … and Stairs for the Divas Championship. Lynch has a 3-0 record in Elimination Chamber. Her last victory of this type was in 2024, when she won the women’s Elimination Chamber match. Lee will make her second appearance at a PLE event in Chicago after defeating Kaitlyn to win the Divas Championship at Payback in 2013.