8 New Directions For WWE After Elimination Chamber 2026

8. Rhea Ripley Gunning Down Jade Cargill

Rhea Ripley won the women’s Chamber bout, and that simply had to happen. She was the most interesting foe for Cargill in the match by a mile. Tiffany Stratton was another option, but who out there really wanted to see a third encounter between Tiffy and Jade following so-so efforts at SummerSlam and Saturday Night's Main Event last year?

'Mami' was the frontrunner even before she and IYO SKY dropped their Women's Tag-Team Titles on the 'go home' SmackDown this past Friday night. Now, one can see Ripley beating Jade, then Cargill spinning off into an elusive feud with the returning Bianca Belair to close that chapter.

Honestly, Jade’s title reign has been largely terrible thus far, so some TV fare opposite a star the stature of Rhea will do her good. There's no escaping the truth that she took home in the win in a bang average Chamber bout that was functional at best and lacked the career-shortening savagery Michael Cole likes to bang on about, but it was a booking outcome that had to be.

Looking on the bright side for a sec, both Kiana James and Raquel Rodriguez got to look physically dominant at various points before Ripley gave a quick 'hold my beer' and showed them how it's done. Jade's fans will be praying that this is a the killer feud her mediocre title reign sorely needs. That mediocrity certainly isn't her fault, but it's like SmackDown's writers totally forgot how to book the Women's Title after Tiffany's match with Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 41.

Onwards and upwards to this battle of alpha females. Fingers crossed they smash it.