The biggest roadblock on The Road to WrestleMania 41 is now out of the way with this year's two Elimination Chamber matches in the books.
As one of WWE's most brutal matches, the cages serve a monumental purpose where they can either detour a champion's path to The Grandest Stage of Them All, or in this year's case, establish the two remaining top challengers who will go on to have world title matches when WWE comes to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 19th and April 20th.
The Women's Elimination Chamber match was set to establish the no. 1 contender for the Women's World Championship, wherein Bianca Belair stood tall in the end. But The EST of WWE didn't have an easy ride to get there by any means, as this match started off with Liv Morgan and Naomi in the ring, only for Jade Cargill to make her return and go after Naomi.
After Naomi was taken out of the match on a stretcher, Belair was distraught and off her game, nearly being eliminated by Liv Morgan mere moments after coming out of her pod. After the whole field came out and was one-by-one eliminated (Bayley by Morgan, Perez by Bliss, Bliss by Morgan), Belair won the match by last-eliminating Morgan.
By doing so, Belair now has to wait to see if she will face Rhea Ripley or Damage CTRL's Iyo Sky, as those two will battle it out for the Women's World Championship on the March 3rd edition of Monday Night raw at the Keybank Center in Buffalo, New York. Most likely, Ripley will retain, as the momentum is on The Eradicator's side, who only won back her title on the Netflix premiere of Raw on January 6th by dethroning her rival Liv Morgan.
To help hype up the idea that it could be Belair against Ripley OR Sky, both of them came out after the match to have a three-way stare down.
As far as the Men's Elimination Chamber match, it was John Cena who was victorious.
Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins started off the fight, followed by Damian Priest, Logan Paul, and John Cena. Prior to CM Punk even entering the fray, Drew McIntyre was eliminated by Damian Priest, and Priest was pinned by Paul (following McIntyre hitting The Archer of Infamy with a Claymore to get him back for the elimination).
Punk entered the match and took out Paul, and would team up with Cena to put down Rollins. Again, an eliminated opponent took out their frustrations, and Rollins hit Punk with a stomp. This gave Cena the edge to lock in an STF and eliminate Punk for the win.
He will face "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship in what will assuredly be the main event of WrestleMania Sunday, given how that is the biggest prize in the entire company and this match will be at the top of the marquee.
After the Men's Elimination Chamber match, Cena was in the ring for the promo segment with Cody Rhodes and The Rock (accompanied by Travis Scott). Rhodes decided not to tell his soul to The Rock, telling him to "go f*ck himself" because he had already given his soul to the ring and the fans a long time ago.
Surprisingly, he was then attacked by Cena, who has turned heel and aligned himself with The Rock. The heels beat down the undisputed WWE champion and left him a bloody mess in the ring to end the show for a finale that speaks volumes for WrestleMania XLI!
While there are many more matches that will be added to WrestleMania weekend, this is the updated current card for WWE WrestleMania 41's lineup:
- Undisputed WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. John Cena
- Women's World Championship Match: Rhea Ripley or Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bianca Belair
- World Heavyweight Championship Match: Gunther (c) vs. Jey Uso
- WWE Women's Championship Match: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
What do you think of this year's Elimination Chamber winners? Were you rooting for others? Who do you think will win those WrestleMania matches? Drop your thoughts and predictions in the comments below and keep the discussion going!