The SmarK Rant for WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 – 02.28.26

The SmarK Rant for WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 – 02.28.26

Live from Chicago, IL

Your hosts are Michael Cole & Wade Barrett

Women’s Elimination Chamber: Alexa Bliss v. Asuka v. Raquel Rodriguez v. Rhea Ripley v. Tiffany Stratton v. Kiana James

We start with Tiffy and Kiana, and this would be the first time I’ve seen Kiana James as far as I know. Tiffany takes her down with a headlock and flips away from a reversal, so Kiana takes her to the corner and does her own flips into a clothesline for two. Tiffany with a low dropkick for two. James with a standing moonsault for two. They head to the apron and Tiffany gets a suplex out there, but she misses a handspring and runs into Raquel’s pod, although in reality she just kind of grazed the plexiglass with her elbow. Asuka is next in at 4:30 and she runs wild, smashing Kiana and Tiffany into pods before simultaneously choking both of them on the cage. Back into the ring with a double missile dropkick for two as the crowd seems to wake up a little bit finally. Tiffany comes back with handsprings on both women, and Alexa is next at 7:15. She runs wild with headscissors until Tiffany cuts her off, but Alexa hangs her in the Tree of Woe for a dropkick before rolling up Kiana for two. Kiana comes back and catapults Tiffany into a pod. Rhea Ripley is in next at 10:15 and she also runs wild until Alexa cuts her off and tries Sister Abigail, but Rhea reverses out and they fight to the apron. Everyone kind of awkwardly piles up out there until Alexa comes off with a pod with a dive. Back in the ring, Alexa catches Kiana in a Sister Abigail, but she actually stops and POINTS TO SIGN, which allows Asuka to mist her and Kiana to roll her up for the pin at 13:20. Raquel is in at 13:50 and she runs wild for a bit, clotheslining Rhea on the top rope and tossing her around on the apron. Rhea tries for a rana, but Raquel blocks it and powerbombs her into the ring before slamming Asuka as well. Kiana tries to cut her off, but Raquel powerslams her through the pod, and then chokeslams Asuka onto her for the double pin at 16:45. Crowd popped for that spot but not much else so far. Tiffany returns from wherever she’s been for the past five minutes and comes back on Raquel, but Raquel slams her for two. Tiffany tries a rana on the apron and Raquel blocks that and puts her down with a big boot and a pump splash elbow. Rhea cannonballs off a pod to take out Raquel, and Tiffany moonsaults her for the pin at 20:15. Crowd really booed that one for some reason. So that leaves Tiffany and Rhea, and Rhea tries a Razor’s Edge, but it’s reversed to an Alabama Slam for two. Tiffy misses the swanton and Rhea slams her for two. Rhea misses a charge and Tiffy comes up with another swanton for two. She goes up again and Rhea shoves her into the pod and finishes with the Riptide at 23:41 to win the title shot. Ending sequence was good but most of the match was really dull and repetitive. **1/2. The match didn’t feel like it had a lot of stakes or urgency, as Raquel was about the only one who even seemed like she was trying to win it.

Women’s Intercontinental title: Becky Lynch v. AJ Lee

Becky plays games with AJ for a bit, but AJ takes her down with a hammerlock and Becky bails to the floor. Back in, Lee with a dropkick, but Becky puts her down with a boot and beats on her to take over. Clothesline gets two. Becky puts the boots to her and follows with a running elbow in the corner into a Bexploder for two. They slug it out and AJ gets a bulldog for a double down. AJ comes back with a tornado DDT and shining wizard for two. They trade cradles for two and Becky gets an inverted DDT for two. Becky pulls off a turnbuckle and superplexes AJ into an armbar, but Lee reverses for two. They have a double down and this allows the ref to fix the turnbuckle, but Becky runs her into the steel and then puts her down with an additional kick to bump her. So AJ gets the submission with no ref, but Becky takes her to the floor and beats on her out there as this match has already gone way too long for 2026 AJ Lee. AJ fights back on the floor as poor Jessica Carr needs medical intervention at this point. Back in the ring, Becky DDTs AJ on a chair and hits the manhandle slam for two. Naturally we get SHOCKED TWO COUNT FACE from Becky, and Lee rolls her up for two. They completely mis-time a spot where Becky was supposed to charge and then have to redo it, and Becky hits the steel and allows AJ to get the Black Widow for the submission at 15:40 to win the title. This was mostly AJ selling and too much gaga with the ref. Becky held it together OK and the match had great heat, but AJ just doesn’t look like she belongs in this era. ***

WWE World title: CM Punk v. Finn Balor

Punk works the headlock to start and hits Balor with a heel kick for two. They slug it out and trade chops, but Balor puts him down with a knee to the gut to take over. Balor with the running chop, but Punk comes back with his running knee, only for Balor to reverse to an abdominal stretch. They clothesline each other for a double down and Punk comes back with the clotheslines and running knee in the corner, and he puts Finn on the floor for a tope. Back in with a flying clothesline for two. Balor hits him with the inverted DDT for two, but Punk catches him in the GTS, which Balor turns into a small package for two. Punk with a neckbreaker for two. They fight to the top and Finn puts him down for a Coup de Grace, but that misses and Punk comes back again with the flying elbow for two. Balor reverses that for two. Punk blocks the shotgun dropkick with a clothesline and then takes him down into the anaconda vice, but Balor rolls out and beats on him with elbows. Balor with the 1917 and he goes up with a Coup de Grace for two off that. He tries again, but Punk hits him with the GTS, which puts Balor on the floor, but he coaxes Punk out there and puts him through the railing with the shotgun dropkick. Back in the ring, Balor escapes the GTS and goes for another Coup de Grace, but he lands on Punk’s foot and Punk turns it into a Sharpshooter, forcing him to make the ropes. Punk with the GTS, however, and that finishes at 20:00. Kinda slow to start but it ended up really good once they started trading the finishers. Really though, who gave Finn Balor any chance at winning the title here? ***1/2

Danhausen and his Danhausen dancers indeed emerge from the mysterious mystery box as rumored, dance around the ring like cartoon characters, and then the lights go out and he disappears. That seemed a little underwhelming, in that no one knew who he was and they booed him out of the building once they realized it wasn’t gonna be Jericho or anyone that was a big star. But other that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

Men’s Elimination Chamber: Trick Williams v. LA Knight v. Cody Rhodes v. Logan Paul v. Randy Orton v. Je’Von Williams Evans

Wait, wasn’t Jey Uso supposed to be in this thing after RAW? Cody starts with Evans and hits him with a suplex for two. Evans comes back with a pair of ranas for two, so Cody runs him into the pod and back in with a clothesline for two. Trick Williams is in at 4:00 as they’re shaving time already, and he goes after Evans, but gets hit with a corkscrew kick. Trick chops him down, but Cody legsweeps Trick for two, drawing boos from the crowd. Trick hits a double chokeslam on Cody and Je’Von for two. They all fight to the apron and Logan Paul is in at 7:25. Everyone immediately attacks him and they run him into a pod, as we learn that in fact Logan is taking the place of Jey Uso following Smackdown. Cody and Je’Von slug it out and Cody backdrops him to the apron, allowing Logan to hit Cody with a buckshot lariat and slug him down. LA Knight is in at 10:40, and he beats Logan down in the corner, but gets sent into a pod. Evans and Knight toss Logan off a pod and they fight on top of it afterwards, with LA hitting the BFT as everyone is out and Randy Orton is the last one in at 13:24. Orton with the draping DDT on Logan and Evan, but LA breaks up an RKO attempt with a DDT and everyone is out. Evans comes off the pod with a frog splash on Williams, but Logan takes out Evans with the Paulverizer at 16:00. That’s quite the finisher. Cody reappears and Knight hits him with a death valley driver for two. Orton slugs away on Knight in the corner, but he misses a charge, and LA tries his wacky elbow before slipping and falling off the ropes to completely flub the move. And then Paul goes low on him and pins him at 18:38. Rough night for Knight. Trick comes back and hits Logan with a spinkick, but Paul escapes the Trick Shot and Cody hits Crossroads on Trick. And then Logan steals the pin on Williams at 20:21 and he’s gone too. This allows the mysterious masked man to run in, but security takes him out and unmasks him, and he’s no one. But then the door is left open and yet another masked man enters the ring, curb stomps Paul, and allows Cody to pin him at 22:30. And this one really is Seth Rollins, who then leaves. Cole calls this “surprise of the century”, even though they’ve spent months trying to trick everyone into thinking it was Seth Rollins under the mask. And then Drew McIntyre runs in and attacks Cody, which allows Orton to hit the RKO and pin Cody at 25:00 to win the title shot. This was going along OK for the most part but the ending was ridiculously overbooked and the match completely fell apart at the end as a result. ***. Also they’re seriously going with Drew McIntyre v. Randy Orton in a Wrestlemania main event in 2026?

This was a decidedly “OK” show at best, with both Chamber matches being kind of dull and repetitive. Nothing really bad, I guess, unless you count the Danhausen flop debut, but overall it was Just A Show.