I Think WWE Needs To Make A Change To How Elimination Chamber Works

The Elimination Chamber is a fantastic gimmick. Outside of the Royal Rumble and Money In The Bank matches, it’s perhaps the stipulation fans most look forward to watching. Unfortunately, because of where it exists within the yearly calendar and how formulaic the stakes have gotten lately, it is in desperate need of a change to not only reach its full potential but also stop partially undermining the Royal Rumble.

It’s not a problem with the match itself. It’s a problem with the prize for winning the match. Back in the day, the match was typically contested for one of the world championships, but now, it’s usually contested for a shot at the world title at WrestleMania. Unfortunately, that’s the exact same prize as you get for winning the Royal Rumble, and since there are only a small number of people who could conceivably win such a big prize, most of the elimination chamber participants are usually most of the same people who narrowly lost the Rumble.

This matters because when someone loses the Rumble, say Cody Rhodes in this instance, in the back of our heads, we’re all like, “Well, he’ll probably win Elimination Chamber” and get the other world title match at ‘Mania. That’s a problem. There should be a level of uncertainty for what happens if you lose the Rumble as an A-lister, and right now, it just feels like it doesn’t matter because there’s another chance next month.

The men’s Elimination Chambers in 2024 and 2025 and the women’s Elimination Chamber matches in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 have all been for that second world title shot at ‘Mania. This year, Triple H announced before the Rumble even happened that the winner of the men’s and women’s Chambers will compete in the other world championship match at WrestleMania 42.

That’s such a missed opportunity. Obviously I’m not saying someone who loses the Rumble shouldn’t be put in a key spot to fight for a world championship at WrestleMania. What I’m saying is WWE needs to add uncertainty to how they get there. The best way to do that is by more regularly changing the stakes of the Elimination Chamber matches.

Here’s what I would do. I would give control of one of the matches to Raw GM Adam Pearce and the other to SmackDown GM Nick Aldis. Then after the Royal Rumble, I’d build a week of storytelling around superstars campaigning for what they want the Elimination Chamber to be.

Maybe Carmelo Hayes says he wants a spotlight and wants to defend the United States Championship in there. Maybe Cody Rhodes desperately begs for the stakes to be a shot at the WWE Championship. Maybe Nick Aldis gets mad at Drew McIntyre and as punishment, tells him he needs to defend the title inside the Chamber. Maybe Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky put up the tag belts. There are so many more possibilities than what we're exploring now.

WWE is always better when there’s an element of uncertainty, and Elimination Chamber is begging for some uncertainty. Yes, a lot of the time the stake should be for a world championship match at ‘Mania, but some of the time, it should be for something else.

It should be a chance to show off the rising stars fighting for a midcard belt like we got in a fantastic match back in 2023. Some of the time it should be for a literal world championship. Having a different prize would make each one feel more unique, and it would also let Triple H, Bruce Prichard and company tell a unique story about how a wrestler earns their ‘Mania title shot without the guarantee of Elimination Chamber if they lose the Rumble.