8 New Directions For WWE After Elimination Chamber 2026

Elimination Chamber 2026 served up debuts, title changes, major returns and matches with WrestleMania 42 consequences, but it still might go down as one of the poorest WWE PLEs in a while. Of course, that's subjective, but apologies in advance: You're not going to see a ton of positivity in this article.

The fella writing it prefers to give most shows the benefit of the doubt and wait to see how things pan out, but Chicago didn't get a banner night to shout about. Punters in the stands surely paid through the nose for 4 matches - 2 of them (both titular Chamber bouts) felt like the latest examples of a tired gimmick. The other pair dragged their heels, but at least Illinois got a Women's Intercontinental Title switch to champion.

WWE's 'who's in the box?!' mystery was solved with one of the most lacklustre debuts in recent memory. It was so lifeless that the coffin Danhausen walked out of felt somehow fitting. Where-oh-where do creative even go after an intro that miserable? That is the burning question. 'Mania is on the horizon, and little about the current products on Raw and SmackDown reflect just how close Las Vegas is.

Meh would about sum it up, and that sucks to even type.

On the plus side, there's a fab women's division showdown to look forward to, Roman Reigns will return to continue his shoot-style war of words with CM Punk, Seth Rollins is back in the mix, and Friday nights could be rocked by a massive heel turn if Chamber is anything to go by.

Here's where it looks like WWE is heading next.

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.