WWE Elimination Chamber 2025: Where Do We Go From Here?

WWE Elimination Chamber 2025 has come and gone, and while some previous iterations of the event have been memorable, none have featured anything quite so jaw-dropping for the collective wrestling fandom as a seemingly unthinkable John Cena heel turn. In addition to being aligned with "Final Boss" The Rock (and Travis Scott, maybe?), Cena is also the No. 1 contender to the Undisputed WWE Championship — held by the man Cena betrayed, Cody Rhodes — by virtue of his victory in the men's Elimination Chamber match. He's joined in that regard by two-time women's Chamber winner Bianca Belair, who has her own web of treachery to deal with after Jade Cargill's return and attack on Belair's tag team partner, Naomi; meanwhile Randy Orton also returned in Toronto and appears hell-bent on getting revenge on Kevin Owens.

With all that, plus Tiffany Stratton, there are a ton of moving parts coming out of Elimination Chamber, and where they eventually come to rest will ultimately determine the card for WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas. Fortunately, the Wrestling Inc. staff are here to help our readers figure out some of the directions WWE might be headed between now and April. After more than 20 years, John Cena has turned his back on the fans — where could we possibly go from here?

Saturday, Bianca Belair outlasted five other women to claim a record-breaking second win in a Women's Elimination Chamber match, and "The -EST" is now set to compete for the WWE Women's World Championship at WrestleMania 41.

Simple WrestleMania roadmap, right? Hold that thought.

The closing moments of the Women's Elimination Chamber match saw Belair and current WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley face off at the top of the entrance ramp. In between the arching frame provided by their bodies, IYO SKY emerged, staring down both women. Ever since being taken out of Chamber contention thanks to Ripley's interference, SKY has been demanding a championship opportunity as compensation for Ripley's mistakes. With Ripley and SKY's match for the WWE Women's World Championship slated for Monday's "WWE Raw," there is a very real chance that the SKY will be the one to end Ripley's current run with the WWE Women's World Championship, and that Belair's Vegas opponent will be "The Genius of the Sky" rather than "The Eradicator."

Ripley and SKY's upcoming match is not the easiest to call. While it might be unusual for WWE to exchange title hands at a weekly show rather than one of its major premium live events, recent episodes of "WWE Raw" have seen title changes, so — considering both Ripley and SKY's extreme popularity and talent — a world title change on Monday is not out of the question. Whatever the result ends up being, however, there is little chance that WWE will leave either Ripley or SKY out of the world title picture at WrestleMania.

The framing of SKY's appearance at Elimination Chamber seems to tease an upcoming Triple Threat for the women's world title, with the loser of March 3's title match inserting themselves into the WrestleMania mix. To put things into Vegas terms, we're betting on a Triple Threat between "The -EST," "The Eradicator", and "The Genius of the Sky" at WrestleMania 41, with the WWE Women's World Championship on the line.

As if predictions about Belair's WrestleMania title match itself weren't complicated enough, you can bet that Naomi and Jade Cargill's ongoing conflict will have a huge impact on Belair's road to WrestleMania — but to what extent? Cargill returned Saturday to take Naomi out of the Elimination Chamber match, effectively demolishing WrestleMania 40's power trio in mere minutes, and while Belair has said that she is "focusing on WrestleMania," per Saturday's post-show event, there is no way Belair, as close as she is with both women, is not roped into the carnage we are about to witness. Whether Naomi and Cargill's conflict will impact the night of Belair's WrestleMania match is unclear, but it is almost certain that their animosity will significantly shape "The -EST's" road to Vegas.

With so many moving pieces, we can't confidently bet on what Vegas has in store for the WWE Women's World Championship. We only know that this build to WrestleMania will be the must-watch storyline over the next fifty days.

Written by Angeline Phu

The women's tag team match pitting WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton and Hall of Famer Trish Stratus against Nia Jax and Candice LeRae was a fun little match on the Elimination Chamber card, even though it didn't seem to mean much. One thing it may have accomplished, however, is ending the feud between Stratton and Jax, with Stratton getting the decisive pin on Jax to score the victory. It also got Stratus out in front of her hometown crowd of Toronto during her 25th year in WWE, which was fun, as well. But, where do these women go from here as WrestleMania season rolls on?

It's simple for Stratton who will go on to face Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania in Las Vegas. Stratton has had a successful title run so far, but it doesn't seem likely, at least right now, that she'll be able to hold on to the gold when facing "The Queen" on "The Grandest Stage of Them All," especially as Flair was on the shelf for over a year before her return. It seems likely that WWE will strap her up once again to make up for lost time.

Stratus' future seems relatively simple as well. It doesn't seem likely she'll be on the WrestleMania card, but could very well return at another big event, like during the first two-night SummerSlam, to get back in front of fans during her anniversary year. LeRae and Jax's futures are a bit more difficult to predict, however. Neither will be facing a champion at WrestleMania, but they could continue tagging together to take on Women's Tag Team Champions Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez in a multi-team tag team match during one of the two nights of 'Mania. With nothing for either of them to really do right now, and one turning against the other isn't really WrestleMania match-worthy, a tag title match to get more women on the card, and getting WrestleMania paydays, seems like a good option.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Elimination Chamber saw a moment of short-lived victory for Kevin Owens as he obliterated the spine of Sami Zayn to win their unsanctioned match, looking to further the damage after the bell had rung before Randy Orton made his return to confront him. Orton delivered an RKO to Owens, and teased the fans with an attempted punt kick, before officials got in the way. The former R-KO duo had gone through a messy break up last year as Owens' issues with Cody Rhodes started to boil over, abandoning their eventually scheduled grudge match at Crown Jewel in November to brawl through the arena. 

Owens would later sideline Orton until this past Saturday with a package piledriver, resuming his feud with Rhodes leading to the Royal Rumble, where Zayn's inaction – as perceived by KO – proved to be the breaking point in their own relationship. The resulting betrayal led into the unsanctioned bout at the Elimination Chamber, with it specifically emphasized that Owens' package piledriver had put Zayn beyond medical clearance. So it stands to reason that the way in which Owens scored his victory over Zayn, leaving him clutching his neck after a pop-up powerbomb in the ring and following up with some more on the ring apron, there is going to be a period of time on the shelf for the "Underdog from the Underground." 

That's where Orton's return seemingly coincides perfectly on the road to WrestleMania, making it a foregone conclusion that Owens-Orton will be picked up with the "Show of Shows" in mind; after all, Orton was staring at the sign at the close of the segment. The question is whether Zayn will factor into the event at all, as he is also presumably going to seek vengeance against Owens when he does make his return. One would think he could make a return at the event to factor into any match between Orton and Owens. But time will tell how that unfolds in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania and beyond.

Written by Max Everett

With John Cena winning the Elimination Chamber and setting up his WrestleMania shot at Cody Rhodes' WWE Championship, Saturday also saw five high-profile names in the losers' column: CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Logan Paul, Damian Priest, and Drew McIntyre. All mentioned would be presumed to be on the card by the time WrestleMania rolls around in one way or another, though it would seem they have been ruled out of the world title picture, so it's just a case of where they will be situated going forward. 

Starting off with the runners up, CM Punk and Seth Rollins, who renewed their rivalry in the Chamber; Punk pinned Rollins to eliminate him from the bout, only for Rollins to land a curb stomp to Punk before leaving the structure, thus allowing Cena to lock in the STF and win via stoppage. Theirs has been a feud brewing since the moment Punk's music signaled his return at Survivor Series 2023, and although Punk defeated Rollins back in January it's always seemed as though a rematch was on the way. Now Rollins has cost him the opportunity to achieve his career-long goal of wrestling in WrestleMania's main event, it's an almost foregone conclusion that they will continue their hostilities heading into the "Show of Shows." There is of course the looming question of the favor owed to Punk by Paul Heyman, and by extension Roman Reigns, and how that could factor into the road to WrestleMania pertaining to Rollins. The last time fans saw Reigns in WWE, he had been eliminated alongside Rollins by Punk in the Royal Rumble, similarly getting a post-elimination stomp at ringside after Punk had also been dumped from the match. 

On the other side of the Chamber result, McIntyre was the first to be eliminated from the match in an upset, rolled up by Priest after wiping out Cena with a Claymore kick. Much like Rollins, McIntyre didn't take his elimination well and gave Priest a Claymore for his troubles, allowing for Paul to then score the elimination on the "Archer of Infamy." Even coming into the Chamber match there had been history to consider between Priest and McIntyre, with Priest cashing in the Money in the Bank contract at last year's WrestleMania to win the WWE World Heavyweight title from McIntyre, and then McIntyre's failed attempt at regaining the title first at Clash at the Castle in Glasgow and then failing to cash in his own Money in the Bank contract at the namesake event a month later. Over the past year, Priest had foiled McIntyre when it came to high-stakes matches, and he had also taken a particular issue with McIntyre's ranting during the go-home episode of "WWE SmackDown" last Friday. So all of that combined with their involvement in one another's eliminations feels to be laying the foundation for them to feud moving forward to 'Mania. 

That leaves Paul as the outlier with the idea that his path forward isn't so clear. But given the name value and the attention given to him since signing with WWE – as well as the emphasis on him being a "full-timer" – it can be safely assumed that he will find himself on the card one way or another.

Written by Max Everett

There are many strikes that have changed world history. The final blow at the Battle of Actium cemented the downfall of Mark Antony and practically birthed the Roman Empire; the first gunshot at Lexington and Concord started the American Revolution; the John Cena's low blow on Cody Rhodes may potentially change the trajectory of WWE — potentially, forever.

After winning his final Elimination Chamber match for a record-tying fourth career Chamber win, Cena broke the hearts millions by siding with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, effectively selling his soul to the corporate "Final Boss" in the home stretch before WrestleMania. Cena has remained mostly silent behind the motivations of his late-stage heel turn, going as far as to walk out of Elimination Chamber's post-show conference with a mere microphone drop and not a word more. With Rhodes incapacitated, Johnson's master plan set in motion, and Travis Scott present, the question persists — just where do we go from here?

Between the many moving parts within this storyline and the noted reticence of this feud's core actors, Cena and Cody's feud is shaping up to be a must-watch storyline on the road to Vegas. While Cena's motives for siding with Johnson remain only theoretical, perhaps Cena, anxious for his seventeenth world title, is turning to the TKO executive as a means to secure a record-breaking title victory in Vegas. Rhodes has trumped "The Rock's" overwhelming power before — he has the WWE Universal Championship to prove it — but it took the help of multiple Superstars, current and past. With the power of two living legends turned against him, just who will Rhodes have to turn to for help? Just who will accept Rhodes' cry for help?

There are multiple players who have expressed their respect for Rhodes, especially in the build-up to Rhodes' confrontation with the soul-seeking Johnson: Seth Rollins being the most pertinent, given their pre-existing history and alliance during the build-up to WrestleMania 40. It is not unfeasible to imagine that Rhodes will call upon Rollins for aid yet again. However, given Rollins' stomp to CM Punk in the final moments of Saturday's men's Elimination Chamber match, there is a good chance "The Visionary" will be too preoccupied with an irate "Second City Saint" to be Rhodes' "shield" this time around. If not Rollins, perhaps Randy Orton or Sami Zayn — both are competitors who have worked closely with Rhodes, with the former having a legacy's worth of history with Cena. However, both are entangled in the web that is Kevin Owens, making them unable to help. Roman Reigns, while absent as of late, could be an option, but the chances of Reigns agreeing to aid a temporary ally like Rhodes against a family member like Johnson are slim. Even then, the pair, in practice, would see more internal strife than external benefits.

Who Rhodes will call upon to help him at WrestleMania is anyone's guess. WWE might just have to sign MJF if Rhodes is to have a fair shot in Vegas.

Written by Angeline Phu