WWE Must Do Something They Haven’t Done For 20 Years In SmackDown’s Main Event Scene

The main event scene on Friday Night SmackDown is busier than it has been for a long while, with the WWE Championship being a sought-after prize amongst many of the top stars on the blue brand. With more regular title changes, championship matches on TV, and chaotic interferences involving the likes of CM Punk, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Gunther, Finn Balor and Johnny Gargano, things have become unpredictable. With how many names are involved in the WWE Title picture, there is only one option to settle the score, though it means that WWE must do something they haven’t done in two decades… book an Elimination Chamber match that doesn’t take place on the road to WrestleMania.

WWE Used To Book Elimination Chamber Matches When Needed

• The first Elimination Chamber matches took place at Survivor Series & SummerSlam.
• WWE held a couple of Chamber matches at New Year’s Revolution.
• The last Chamber match to be held at a different time of year was at December To Dismember.

Like most of WWE’s major stipulations, most notably including Hell In A Cell and TLC, using them sporadically and at random points of the year made them feel special. This was no different for the Elimination Chamber match, which began its life being presented as one of the most destructive, unpredictable, and devastating stipulations ever created in WWE. The match started out at Survivor Series 2002 with Shawn Michaels winning the World Heavyweight Title in a violent and chaotic matchup, with the matchup then being used whenever it was needed.

The next matches at SummerSlam 2003 (which we’d rather forget), New Years Revolution 2005 & 2006, and December To Dismember 2006 (which we’d also really rather forget, rather urgently), all retained that feeling of the match being something that was a special attraction and provided fans with unpredictable fields where it felt like anyone could win the match. Unfortunately, like those aforementioned other stipulations, WWE eventually squeezed out the prestige and importance of this matchup by oversaturating it with an Elimination Chamber themed event.

The Elimination Chamber Match Only Takes Place On The Road To WrestleMania

• Elimination Chamber found a home at No Way Out.
• WWE created a namesake Elimination Chamber PPV in 2010.
• Elimination Chamber 2015 took place in May.

In 2008, WWE made the call to make Elimination Chamber a regular stopping point on the road to WrestleMania, hosting two Elimination Chamber matches per show at both No Way Out 2008 and 2009, before creating the Elimination Chamber PPV. With these matches often playing directly into world title matches and main event bouts at WrestleMania, Elimination Chamber bouts have become some of the most predictable and lifeless bouts in WWE. Outside of a few instances in which WWE has pulled out a twist, the placement on the calendar of these matches has done no favors for the depleting interest in this stipulation.

Not only has the Elimination Chamber become way more predictable, but WWE has also stopped booking title matches inside the structure, with the bouts instead being used solely to determine the number one contenders for the two world titles that were not selected by WWE’s men’s and women’s Royal Rumble winners. All of this is exactly why it would be a huge deal and unpredictable scenario for WWE to book an Elimination Chamber at a different PLE for the first time in twenty years.

WWE Must Book Sami Zayn To Defend The WWE Championship Inside The Elimination Chamber

• WWE’s main event scene on SmackDown must lead to a multi-man match.
• Booking an Elimination Chamber match at a different PLE would make it feel special.
• Elimination Chamber matches are usually predictable – this would not be.

The current SmackDown main event scene is very busy, with the likes of CM Punk, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Gunther, Finn Balor & Johnny Gargano all developing issues with one another, challenging for the WWE Championship, interfering in each other’s matches, and all ensuring that they remain in contention for the top prize. How else is WWE going to settle a feud between six wrestlers? Sure, a ladder match, elimination six-pack challenge, or the long-forgotten “championship scramble” are possibilities, but it would be very interesting to see an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship without the predictability of the expected WrestleMania card hanging over it.

It would be a matchup in which literally any of those involved could win, especially with how frequently the WWE Championship has changed hands over 2026. Booking this match for Wrestlepalooza in December would add a lot of excitement to the card, or else WWE could book an unprecedented SmackDown Elimination Chamber match on live TV, which would no doubt drive up viewership and pay off the many TV title matches we’ve had on the blue brand. WWE likely won’t go down this route, but they absolutely should.