The 2026 Elimination Chamber, also promoted as Elimination Chamber: Chicago (known as No Escape: Chicago in Germany), was a professional wrestling premium live event (PLE) produced by WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the 16th Elimination Chamber event and took place on February 28, 2026, at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The event centered on the Elimination Chamber match, a type of roofed steel cage that surrounds the ring and ringside area with no disqualifications; the objective is to eliminate all other opponents either by pinfall or submission with championship implications at stake.
This was the first Elimination Chamber to be held in the United States since 2021, as well as the first in the country with spectators in live attendance since the 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. This marked the first Elimination Chamber event to livestream on the ESPN app in the United States, and the first televised WWE event to be held at the United Center since the 1994 SummerSlam. This was also notably the last main roster WWE event to stream on the WWE Network, which was still available in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, as it completely shut down on April 1 with these countries transitioning to Netflix.
The event comprised four matches, including two eponymous matches, with one each for the men and women. The main event was the men's Elimination Chamber match, which was won by SmackDown's Randy Orton, earning a match for SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42, while the women's match, which was the opening bout, was won by Raw's Rhea Ripley, earning a match for SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania. In the other matches contested, AJ Lee defeated Becky Lynch by submission to win the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship, while CM Punk defeated Finn Bálor to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The event also saw the return of Seth Rollins following an injury and the WWE debut of Danhausen, previously known for his time in All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor.
Production
Background Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling premium live event (PLE) first produced by WWE in 2010. It was originally broadcast exclusively via pay-per-view (PPV) before it also became available via livestreaming in 2015. It has been held every year since, except in 2016, generally in February. The concept of the event is that one or two main event matches are contested inside the Elimination Chamber, which is a type of multi-person elimination-based Steel Cage match in which championships or future opportunities at championships are at stake.
On October 14, 2025, Sports Illustrated reported that the 16th Elimination Chamber event was scheduled to take place on February 28, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. It featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This marked the first Elimination Chamber event to be held in Chicago, the first to be held in the United States since 2021, and the first in the country with live fans in attendance since the 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the 2021 event was held in a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome, at the time hosted at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, while the following four events were held outside of the United States. On November 13, 2025, the venue was revealed to be the United Center, marking the first televised WWE event of any kind at the arena since SummerSlam in 1994, as WWE had traditionally held their Chicago events at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. The official theme song for the event is "Bodies" by JID, Offset, Bnyx, and Drowning Pool.
The Elimination Chamber match is an elimination-based match contested in a type of large roofed steel cage that surrounds the wrestling ring with an elevated platform around the ring. Within the Chamber are four inner pods, one behind each ring post. The match is contested by six participants. Two wrestlers start the match, while the other four are held within each inner pod with one selected randomly to enter the match at regular intervals, which continues until all four have been released. The objective is to eliminate all other opponents by pinfall or submission, and there are no disqualifications or count-outs.
In 2011 and since 2013, the event has been promoted as "No Escape" in Germany as it was feared that the name "Elimination Chamber" may remind people of the gas chambers used during the Holocaust; it was promoted as "No Way Out" in 2010 and 2012.
Broadcast outlets In addition to airing on traditional PPV worldwide, it was available to livestream on the ESPN streaming service in the United States, Netflix in most international markets, the WWE Network in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, SuperSport in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Abema in Japan. This marked the first Elimination Chamber to livestream on ESPN's app in the United States, as WWE's contract with Peacock to air main roster PLEs expired at the conclusion of Clash in Paris in August 2025. This would notably be the last main roster event to stream on the WWE Network in the remaining countries that had the service as it completely shut down on April 1, with these countries transitioning to Netflix.
Storylines The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown WWE brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
In speaking with ESPN on January 28, 2026, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque confirmed that the winners of the men's and women's Elimination Chamber matches would earn a world title match at WrestleMania 42 for the respective championships that the winners of the 2026 Royal Rumble matches did not choose. As a result of both the men's and women's Royal Rumble winners choosing to challenge for Raw's World Heavyweight Championship and Women's World Championship, respectively, this confirmed that the Elimination Chamber winners would challenge for SmackDown's respective world championships: the Undisputed WWE Championship and the WWE Women's Championship.
On February 6, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced that qualifying matches for Elimination Chamber would begin on that night's SmackDown, with further qualifiers held across subsequent episodes of Raw and SmackDown, contested as triple threat matches. Randy Orton earned the first spot in the men's match by defeating Aleister Black and Solo Sikoa. The second spot was earned by LA Knight on the February 9 episode of Raw, defeating Austin Theory and Penta. Cody Rhodes won the third spot on the February 13 episode of SmackDown, defeating Jacob Fatu and Sami Zayn after interference from Undisputed WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. The fourth spot was earned by Je'Von Evans, who defeated Dominik Mysterio and Gunther on the February 16 episode of Raw. On the February 20 episode of SmackDown, Trick Williams won the fifth spot by defeating Carmelo Hayes and Damian Priest. The final spot was determined on the February 23 episode of Raw which saw Jey Uso defeating Bronson Reed and "The Original" El Grande Americano. Prior to the start of the February 27 episode of SmackDown, Uso was attacked backstage by an unknown assailant and taken to a hospital, ruling him out of Elimination Chamber. Raw's The Vision (Theory, Logan Paul, and Paul Heyman) appeared, with Heyman stating that Paul should take Uso's spot. Later in a backstage segment, Fatu also claimed that he should be in the match due to McIntyre interfering in his qualifier. Aldis then revealed that, after speaking with Raw General Manager Adam Pearce, Fatu would face Paul, with the winner taking Uso's spot. The match was won by Paul after McIntyre interfered once again.
Qualifying matches for the women's Elimination Chamber also began on the February 6 episode of SmackDown, also held as triple threat matches across episodes of Raw and SmackDown. Tiffany Stratton earned the first spot by defeating Chelsea Green and Lash Legend. On the following week's Raw, Rhea Ripley earned the second spot by defeating Ivy Nile and Lyra Valkyria. Alexa Bliss won the third spot by defeating Giulia and Zelina on the February 13 episode of SmackDown. The fourth spot was determined on the February 16 episode of Raw where Asuka defeated Bayley and Nattie. Kiana James won the fifth spot on the February 20 episode of SmackDown, defeating Charlotte Flair and Nia Jax, while the final spot was determined on the February 23 episode of Raw where Raquel Rodriguez defeated Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane.
On the September 5, 2025 episode of SmackDown, AJ Lee returned to WWE for the first time since 2015, aiding her husband CM Punk against Becky Lynch and her husband Seth Rollins. Lee and Punk subsequently defeated Lynch and Rollins in a mixed tag team match at Wrestlepalooza, where Lee forced Lynch to submit. Following a brief hiatus, Lee returned on the November 17 episode of Raw, distracting Lynch to cost her the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship. At Survivor Series: WarGames, both women were part of opposite teams in the Women's WarGames match, where Lee's team won after she forced Lynch to submit once again. Lynch subsequently regained the title on the Raw on Netflix Anniversary Show. On the February 9 episode of Raw, Lee returned from another brief hiatus, much to Lynch's dismay. Lynch asked Lee if she wanted to face her at Elimination Chamber in Chicago where Lee resides. Lee mentioned that since she had already beaten Lynch twice, it would make her the No. 1 contender for the title, which Lynch denied. Lee then teased that she would go back home if she could not fight for the title and refused the match; however, Lynch eventually agreed to defend the title against Lee at the event.
On the January 12, 2026, episode of Raw, Judgment Day member Finn Bálor was confronted by stablemate Liv Morgan after she noticed that Bálor had become complacent and had not made any moves to pursue a title. Morgan also claimed that Bálor was not serious about backing his claim of carrying the group on his back and winning a title, which Bálor previously stated as his goal for 2026. This led to Bálor interrupting World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk later that night, who recalled that Punk stated that Bálor was one of the people he wanted to face after winning the title at Saturday Night's Main Event XLI in November 2025. Following an exchange of words, Punk agreed to a title match on that night's episode; however, Bálor wanted the match to happen on the following episode in his home country of Ireland, which Punk agreed. Punk retained the title and showed respect to Bálor afterwards. The following week, Bálor also showed respect to Punk, who stated that Bálor should win the Royal Rumble match to earn a rematch at WrestleMania 42; however, when Bálor declared to Raw General Manager Adam Pearce that he would be entering the match, Pearce stated that all the spots were full, which infuriated Bálor. Later that night, Bálor attacked Punk during his title defense. Two weeks later on Raw, Bálor interrupted Punk's scheduled interview with Michael Cole to challenge Punk for the title at Elimination Chamber in Punk's hometown of Chicago. Pearce denied Bálor's request, not wanting to jeopardize Punk's title defense against Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42. Punk subsequently appeared and agreed to defend the title against Bálor at the event, and Pearce begrudgingly made the match official.