This will be 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. It will also be the first Elimination Chamber event to livestream on the ESPN app in the United States. This will also be the first WWE event to be held at the United Center since the 1994 SummerSlam.
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.[2] It will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDownbrand divisions. This will mark the first Elimination Chamber event to be held in Chicago and the first to be held in the United States since 2021, but the first in the country with live fans in attendance since 2020 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 at international locations. 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 have traditionally held their Chicago events at Allstate Arena.[3]
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.[4][5]
Broadcast outlets
In addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view worldwide, it will be available to livestream on ESPN's direct-to-consumer 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.[6] This marks the first Elimination Chamber to livestream on ESPN in the United States, as WWE's contract with Peacock to air main roster PPV and livestreaming events expired at the conclusion of Clash in Paris in August.[7][8]
Storylines
The event will include matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results will be predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[9][10] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[11]
In speaking with ESPN on January 28, 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 do not choose.[12] On February 6, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced that qualifying matches for the Elimination Chamber matches would begin on that night's SmackDown. Randy Orton earned the first spot by defeating Aleister Black and Solo Sikoa in a triple threat match.[13] Qualifying matches will continue on the following week's episode of Raw, with no participants announced yet, while another spot will be determined on the February 13 episode of SmackDown by a match between Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu, and Sami Zayn.[14] As a result of men's Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns choosing to challenge for Raw's World Heavyweight Championship held by CM Punk at WrestleMania 42, this confirmed that the men's Elimination Chamber winner would challenge for SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship at the same event.[15]
Qualifying matches for the women's Elimination Chamber match also began on the February 6 episode of SmackDown, with Tiffany Stratton earning the first spot by defeating Chelsea Green and Lash Legend in a triple threat match.[13] Qualifying matches will continue on the following week's episode of Raw, with Rhea Ripley being the only competitor announced so far, while another spot will be determined on the February 13 episode of SmackDown by a match between Alexa Bliss, Giulia, and Zelina.[14] Since women's Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan has not yet decided which world title she will challenge for at WrestleMania 42, it remains uncertain which title the winner of the Women's Elimination Chamber will also challenge for at the event.
↑The second spot will be determined on the February 9 episode of Raw, however, no competitors were announced yet, while the third spot will be determined on the February 13 episode of SmackDown by a triple threat match between Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu, and Sami Zayn.
↑The second spot will be determined on the February 9 episode of Raw, with Rhea Ripley being the only competitor announced so far, while the third spot will be determined on the February 13 episode of SmackDown by a triple threat match between Alexa Bliss, Giulia, and Zelina.
↑Hoffmann, Martin (February 20, 2018). "Darum hat eine WWE-Show zwei Namen"[This is why a WWE show has two names]. Sport1 (in German). Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
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