Elimination Chamber: Ripley and Orton win, set for WrestleMania 42 title shots
The elimination chamber in Chicago produced two clear winners for WrestleMania 42: Rhea Ripley and Randy Orton each won their Chamber matches and earned world title matches at WrestleMania 42, reshaping the card and setting up a Friday rematch to finalize a WrestleMania opponent.
Ripley and Orton punched their tickets
Rhea Ripley won the women's Elimination Chamber match as the fan favorite and will challenge Jade Cargill for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 42. Randy Orton won the men's Elimination Chamber, pinning Cody Rhodes — with a little help from Drew McIntyre — to claim his shot at the world title at WrestleMania 42.
Other big outcomes in Chicago
CM Punk retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with a hard-fought win over Finn Bálor. AJ Lee defeated Becky Lynch to capture the Women's Intercontinental Championship. A crate reveal produced Danhausen, a moment that was met with confusion from fans. Seth Rollins was revealed as the masked man who attacked Logan Paul and helped eliminate him inside the Chamber.
Card details and predictions that preceded the show
Preview coverage ahead of the event listed the World Heavyweight Title Match as CM Punk (c) vs. Finn Bálor. Mark Kaboly, writing in advance from the United Center in Chicago for a prediction piece, expected Punk to win in his hometown and predicted Punk would defeat Bálor and then be attacked inside the ring by “Dirty” Dom, Dominik Mysterio. Kaboly also previewed the Women's Intercontinental Championship match as Becky Lynch (c) vs. AJ Lee and predicted AJ Lee would defeat Lynch.
Men's Chamber lineup and storylines
The men's Elimination Chamber field named in the preview included Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Je'Von Evans, Trick Williams, Logan Paul and LA Knight. Kaboly predicted Je'Von Evans would wow the crowd, that Orton would catch Evans with a spectacular RKO, and that it would be a three-man race among Orton, Cody Rhodes and LA Knight. He also wrote that he could not see WrestleMania 42 without Cody Rhodes in a main-event title match and projected a Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre title match at WrestleMania.
SmackDown fallout and the Friday decider
After the Chamber, SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis announced that Drew McIntyre will be forced to face Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed Championship on Friday; that match will determine whom Randy Orton will face at WrestleMania 42. The preview notes that Jey Uso was taken out by a mystery man on SmackDown, which opened the door for Vision member Logan Paul to take the sixth and final Chamber spot over Jacob Fatu — and the coverage said that if Fatu had slid in, it might have changed the match dynamics.
Broadcast notes and an unrelated site message
Pre-event promotion urged fans to watch every Premium Live Event and noted availability on multiple platforms, and Kaboly's preview listed the show as streaming live from the United Center in Chicago on Saturday at 7 ET/4 PT. Separately in the provided context, a browser-support notice advised that a site was not compatible with the reader’s browser and suggested downloading a supported browser for the best experience.
Andreas Hale breaks down all the action from Elimination Chamber in Chicago, and the immediate next confirmed event on the schedule is Drew McIntyre facing Cody Rhodes on Friday for the Undisputed Championship to decide whom Orton will face at WrestleMania 42.
