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Rhea Ripley and Randy Orton are going to WrestleMania. Ripley and Orton both won matches inside the Elimination Chamber on Saturday night to punch their tickets to world title matches at the biggest event of the year.
While there were no surprises on Ripley's path to winning in the Chamber, Orton saw Seth Rollins make a shocking return to eliminate Logan Paul, and Drew McIntyre run in to attack Cody Rhodes as the match was down to just Rhodes and Orton. Orton helped Rhodes fight off McIntyre, but immediately put Rhodes down with an RKO to pick up the victory.
Also at Elimination Chamber, the CM Punk household thrived, with Punk defeating Finn Balor to retain the world heavyweight championship, and Punk's wife, AJ Lee, winning the women's intercontinental championship match by submitting Becky Lynch.
Let's take a closer look at everything that happened in Chicago that will help pave the road to WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas in April.
Rhea Ripley punches ticket to WrestleMania match with Jade Cargill by winning Elimination Chamber
Women's Elimination Chamber Match -- Rhea Ripley vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Kiana James vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Asuka vs. Liv Morgan. Stratton and James were the first two women in the match. The pair battled with no real threat of either being eliminated, though there were some highlight moments, such as Stratton's backspring elbow missing and instead sending her crashing against the chamber containing Rodriguez. Asuka was the next woman into the match and, as is tradition for any entrant into the match, immediately went on a sprint of offense. Bliss was the fourth into the match and took advantage of the other three women having taken each other down. Bliss was the first woman to really look to score an elimination. Stratton hit a pod for the second time in the match when James launched her with a slingshot.
Ripley was the penultimate entrant into the match, leaving Rodriguez as the final woman in a pod. Ripley avoided Sister Abigail from Morgan only for Morgan to twice avoid being hit with Riptide. Bliss climbed to the top of the pod and hit the other four women with a Twisted Bliss. Moments later, Bliss was about to hit James with Sister Abigail when Asuka blindsided her with mist, allowing James to pin and eliminate Bliss. After Rodriguez entered the match, the four remaining women attempted to team up on her but Rodriguez was able to briefly dominate with power, including catching Ripley and powerbombing her from outside the ring to the inside and doing the same to Asuka with a fallaway slam. As James attempted to attack Rodriguez, Rodriguez drove James through the Plexiglass on a pod with a running powerslam. Rodriguez then hit Asuka with a Tejana Bomb onto James and pinned both women for a double elimination.
As Rodriguez had Stratton on the top rope, Ripley dove off the top of the cage with a flipping senton, driving Rodriguez to the canvas and allowing Stratton to hit the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to eliminate Rodriguez, leaving the match down to Ripley and Stratton. Stratton looked for the PME again but Ripley shoved her from the top rope into one of the pods before hitting Riptide to win the match and punch her ticket to a match with women's WWE champion Jade Cargill at WrestleMania. It was absolutely the right decision to get a fresh matchup on the books for WrestleMania, which combined with an otherwise solid match for a solid opener. Rhea Ripley def. Tiffany Stratton, Kiana James, Raquel Rodriguez, Asuka and Liv Morgan -- Grade: B+
AJ Lee takes down Becky Lynch to win the women's intercontinental championship
Women's Intercontinental Championship -- Becky Lynch (c) vs. AJ Lee: Lee looked for some quick finishes with roll-ups, but Lynch was able to escape, though not before growing visibly frustrated as Lee built momentum. Lee also continued to focus her offense on Lynch's arm, looking to set up a Black Widow submission later in the match. Lynch eventually started to come back and wear Lee down using her power and size advantage, including hitting an exploder suplex out of the corner. As momentum continued to swing back and forth, Lynch managed to avoid a Black Widow and turn it into a reverse DDT for a near fall. Lynch then removed a turnbuckle pad to expose the steel turnbuckle underneath.
Lee avoided being sent into the turnbuckle and broke a Disarm-her attempt from Lynch. The referee saw the exposed turnbuckle and attempted to address it but Lynch shoved Lee into the referee before accidentally hitting the ref with a kick. Lee then caught Lynch in the Black Widow, forcing Lynch to tap, though the referee was incapacitated and did not see the tap. Lynch brought a steel chair into the ring, which eventually led to Lee being sent onto it from the top rope, but missing entirely, leading Lynch to deliver a DDT onto the chair (which also visibly missed), before a Manhandle Slam after the referee recovered, though Lynch was able to kick out. Lynch was prevented by the referee from sending Lee into the turnbuckle, infuriating her before she ran her own face into the exposed turnbuckle, allowing Lee to lock in a Black Widow for the win. The match felt like it was lacking some "hard-hitting" elements, and some stuff (notably the steel chair spots) were simply missed. It resulted in a fairly forgettable match, though not one that was particularly bad. Result: AJ Lee def. Becky Lynch to win the title -- Grade: B-
CM Punk outlasts Finn Balor to keep WrestleMania main event in place
Punk's entrance featured the old school Chicago Bulls pre-game introduction, a nice nod to him being in his hometown. The match started with some back-and-forth chain wrestling. Balor looked to take a slow, grinding approach to keep with his promise of taking the Chicago crowd out of the match. This continued until a double-clothesline left both men down. At that point, Punk rallied with a burst of offense.
At some point, Punk took a shot that led him to begin bleeding from the mouth. Still, he managed to hit a diving elbow onto Balor. Balor continued to be a step ahead of Punk, even fighting through an Anaconda Vice to put Punk down and hit a Coup de Grace for a near fall. Balor seemed ready to call for his Judgment Day teammates but held back, only to turn and be hit with a Go To Sleep, though Balor was sent to the floor by the impact. Out on the floor, Balor hit a sling blade before a shotgun dropkick to send Punk through the ringside barricade. Punk came back, locking Balor in a sharpshooter, delivering some kicks and hitting a second Go To Sleep for the win. After the match, Balor shook Punk's hand before leaving the ring. Their meeting on Raw was better and the Chicago crowd has been fairly muted, a rarity in the city, but this was a perfectly serviceable match that always had a predictable winner. Result: CM Punk retains the title -- Grade: B
Danhausen is officially in WWE
The box that has appeared on Raw and SmackDown for the past few weeks finally opened, with several women in Danhausen face paint emerging before Danhausen himself led them to the ring. The women did a dance, Danhausen gave Michael Cole a jar with teeth in it and the lights went out, ending the segment.
Seth Rollins returns, Randy Orton wins in the Elimination Chamber
Men's Elimination Chamber Match -- Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Je'Von Evans vs. Trick Williams vs. Logan Paul. Evans and Rhodes were the first two men in the match and went back and forth until Williams entered the match. Williams and Evans battled with Rhodes down outside the ring. Again, things spun between each man briefly having momentum until the next entrant, Paul. Evans, Williams and Rhodes immediately teamed up to attack Paul before going back to attacking each other, allowing Paul to finally fully get into the swing of things. Knight was the next man out, leaving Orton as the final man in a pod.
Paul made his way to the top of a pod, with Evans and Knight following him. Knight and Evans tossed Paul, who collided with Williams and Rhodes in the ring. Knight then delivered a BFT on the top of the pod. Orton entered as the final man in the match, with no one having been eliminated. Evans hit a frog splash from the pod onto Williams, but turned into a Paulverizer for the match's first elimination. Knight looked for the diving elbow but slipped off the top rope, seconds later hitting Williams with a BFT. Williams was able to roll out of the ring and Paul hit Knight with a low blow and a roll-up for the elimination.
Rhodes hit Williams with a Cross Rhodes, but Paul threw Rhodes into the ring post to steal the pin, leaving things down to Paul, Rhodes and Orton. Security grabbed a masked man attempting to interfere, and when Adam Pearce removed the mask, it was an unknown man, but another snuck into the Chamber as Williams was leaving. The masked man then kicked Paul and hit a stomp, allowing Rhodes to get the pin. Seth Rollins then revealed himself as the man under the mask. In the ensuing chaos, Drew McIntyre slipped into the ring and hit Rhodes with the WWE championship belt. McIntyre continued the attack until Orton hit him with an RKO. Rhodes followed up with a Cross Rhodes on McIntyre but Orton immediately hit Rhodes with an RKO to win the match and advance to WrestleMania. The match definitely falls under the "overbooked" umbrella, but Orton winning was a nice surprise. Whether WWE sticks to a WrestleMania match between Orton and McIntyre is still to be seen, but it's a solid decision to pull off a minor surprise on the final pre-WrestleMania event. Result: Randy Orton def. LA Knight vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Je'Von Evans vs. Trick Williams vs. Logan Paul -- Grade: B
