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Elimination Chamber: Toronto

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Elimination Chamber: Toronto
Promotional poster featuring John Cena
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
DateMarch 1, 2025
CityToronto, Ontario, Canada
VenueRogers Centre
WWE Network event chronology
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Elimination Chamber: Toronto (known as No Escape: Toronto in Germany) is an upcoming 2025 professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It will be the 15th Elimination Chamber event and will take place on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The event will air via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and will be held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event is based around the Elimination Chamber match, a type of multi-person elimination-based Steel Cage match in which championships or future opportunities at championships are at stake.

This will be the first Elimination Chamber event in Toronto and the first WWE event to be held at Rogers Centre since WrestleMania X8 in 2002 when it was still known as the SkyDome. It will also be the second Elimination Chamber event in Canada after the 2023 edition and the fourth consecutive Elimination Chamber to be held outside of the United States. This will also be the final Elimination Chamber appearance of John Cena due to his retirement from professional wrestling at the end of 2025.

Production

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The 2025 Elimination Chamber will be held at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which will be WWE's first event in the stadium since WrestleMania X8 in 2002.

Background

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Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling event first produced by the American promotion WWE in 2010. It has been held every year since, except in 2016, generally in February. The concept of the event is that one or two main event matches are contested inside the Elimination Chamber, which is a type of multi-person elimination-based Steel Cage match in which championships or future opportunities at championships are at stake.[1]

Announced on November 8, 2024, the 15th Elimination Chamber event, titled as Elimination Chamber: Toronto, was scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.[2] This will mark the second Elimination Chamber event to be held in Canada, after 2023, and the fourth consecutive to be held outside of the United States, after the 2022, 2023, and 2024 events, which were held in Saudi Arabia, Canada (Montreal), and Australia, respectively. This will also mark WWE's first event to be held at the Rogers Centre since WrestleMania X8 in 2002 when the stadium was still known as the SkyDome. This will also be the second Elimination Chamber event to have a subtitle named after its host city and to take place in an outdoor venue, both after 2024.[3][4]

The event will air on pay-per-view worldwide and will be available to livestream on Peacock in the United States, Netflix in most international markets, and the WWE Network in any remaining countries that have not yet transferred to Netflix due to pre-existing contracts. This marks the first Elimination Chamber to livestream on Netflix following the WWE Network's merger under the service in January 2025 in those areas. Rogers Communications, the owner of Rogers Centre, has been a longstanding partner of WWE and its parent company TKO, having been its broadcast and WWE Network distribution partner in Canada from 2014 to 2024, and continuing as the Canadian broadcast partner of co-owned mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), WWE's sister company under TKO.[5][6][7]

In 2011 and since 2013, the event has been promoted as "No Escape" in Germany as it was feared that the name "Elimination Chamber" may remind people of the gas chambers used during the Holocaust.[8][9]

Storylines

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The event will comprise matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[10][11] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[12]

On July 6, 2024, at Money in the Bank, John Cena officially announced that he would retire from professional wrestling at the end of 2025, having wrestled for WWE since 2002 (though part-time since 2018). Cena also stated that he would compete at Elimination Chamber, which would be his last Elimination Chamber event.[13] After losing the Royal Rumble match at the 2025 Royal Rumble, during the event's post-show, Cena declared that he would compete in the men's Elimination Chamber match as it would be his last time at an opportunity to compete for a world championship in the main event of a WrestleMania.[14] The next day, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced that qualifying matches would begin the following night on Raw.[15] CM Punk won the first qualifier by defeating Sami Zayn.[16] The third spot was determined on the February 7 episode of SmackDown, where Drew McIntyre defeated Jimmy Uso and LA Knight in a triple threat match.[17] The fourth spot was determined on the February 10 episode of Raw, where Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio.[18] The fifth spot was determined on the February 14 episode of SmackDown by another triple threat match where Damian Priest defeated Braun Strowman and Jacob Fatu,[19] while the final spot was determined on the February 17 episode of Raw where Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Finn Bálor.[20] As a result of Royal Rumble winner Jey Uso choosing to challenge Gunther for Raw's World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41, the winner of the men's Elimination Chamber match will challenge Cody Rhodes for SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania.[18]

Qualifiers for the women's Elimination Chamber match also began on the February 3 episode of Raw. Liv Morgan won the first qualifier by defeating Iyo Sky by disqualification due to interference from Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley.[16] The second and third spots were determined on the February 7 episode of SmackDown, where Bianca Belair and Alexa Bliss defeated Piper Niven and Candice LeRae, respectively.[17] The fourth spot was determined on the February 10 episode of Raw, where Bayley defeated Lyra Valkyria.[18] The fifth spot was determined on the February 14 episode of SmackDown, where Naomi defeated Chelsea Green,[19] while the final spot was determined on the February 17 episode of Raw where NXT's Roxanne Perez defeated Raquel Rodriguez.[20] As a result of Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair choosing to challenge Tiffany Stratton for SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 41, the winner of the women's Elimination Chamber match will challenge Rhea Ripley for Raw's Women's World Championship at WrestleMania.[19]

In June 2024, Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax formed an alliance.[21] During this time, Stratton won the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake event in July,[22] while Jax won the WWE Women's Championship at SummerSlam in August.[23] In October, Jax also formed an alliance with Candice LeRae. After months of teasing, Stratton finally turned on Jax and successfully cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on the January 3 episode of SmackDown to win the WWE Women's Championship.[24] At the Royal Rumble on February 1, WWE Hall of Famer and Canadian Trish Stratus entered the namesake match at #25. She eliminated LeRae before being eliminated by Jax.[25] On the February 14 episode of SmackDown, Jax had a rematch for the championship, but the match ended in a disqualification win for Stratton after LeRae attacked Stratton. After the match, both Jax and LeRae continued to attack Stratton before Stratus, who was in the crowd, came in to even the odds. Stratus then proposed to team up with Stratton at Elimination Chamber: Toronto, and a tag team match pitting Stratus and Stratton against Jax and LeRae was subsequently made official.[19]

On the January 20 episode of Raw, Sami Zayn talked about winning the Royal Rumble match before he was interrupted by longtime friend Kevin Owens. He stated that he knew Zayn could win the Royal Rumble match because he would have Zayn's back, the same way that Owens knew that Zayn would have his back at Owens' upcoming ladder match against Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship also at the Royal Rumble.[26] At the event, Owens lost to Rhodes. During the match, Zayn appeared at ringside to check on Owens, but did not get involved in the match.[25] On the following episode of Raw, Zayn failed to qualify for the Elimination Chamber match. After the match, Owens viciously attacked Zayn with a package piledriver, severely injuring Zayn's neck (kayfabe) and ruling him out of action for an undetermined period of time.[16] In a video message posted on X, Zayn gave an update on his injury and said when he was medically cleared to wrestle, he would be coming for Owens,[27] who responded and said that Zayn's refusal to help him during the match was a betrayal. Owens also challenged Zayn to a match at Elimination Chamber, regardless of whether or not Zayn would be medically cleared.[28] On the February 17 episode of Raw, Zayn accepted Owens' challenge to a match, but Raw General Manager Adam Pearce refused to make the match official as Zayn was still not medically cleared. Zayn refused to leave the ring until Pearce made the match official. Pearce told Zayn he could not sanction a match between the two. Therefore, an unsanctioned match between Owens and Zayn, in their home country of Canada, was scheduled for Elimination Chamber: Toronto.[20]

Matches

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No.Matches*Stipulations
1John Cena vs. CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Logan Paul vs. Damian Priest vs. Seth "Freakin" RollinsElimination Chamber match for an Undisputed WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 41[29]
2Liv Morgan vs. Bianca Belair vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley vs. Naomi vs. Roxanne PerezElimination Chamber match for a Women's World Championship match at WrestleMania 41[30]
3Trish Stratus and Tiffany Stratton vs. Nia Jax and Candice LeRaeTag team match[31]
4Sami Zayn vs. Kevin OwensUnsanctioned match[32]
*Card subject to change

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Elimination Chamber Match rules". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 8, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
  2. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (November 8, 2024). "WWE Elimination Chamber 2025 Announced For Toronto". 411Mania. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  3. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (September 21, 2023). "WWE Elimination Chamber 2024 To Take Place At Optus Stadium In Perth, Western Australia On 2/24". Fightful. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  4. ^ Zimmerman, Josh; May, Rebecca Le (September 21, 2023). "WWE Elimination Chamber in Perth: Roger Cook, Rita Saffioti confirm wrestling event at Optus Stadium in 2024". Perth Now. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  5. ^ Nowak, Peter (August 1, 2014). "Working from NHL playbook, Rogers locks down 10-year cable deal with WWE wrestling". Canadian Business Captured by: Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014.
  6. ^ Rogers Media. "Are WWE pay-per-views included in Sportsnet+?". Sportsnet+ Support. Retrieved November 6, 2024. Please note that WWE content will no longer be available on Sportsnet as of January 1, 2025. The WWE Network x Sportsnet+ pass will no longer be available for purchase beginning December 2, 2024.
  7. ^ "UFC returning to Sportsnet with multi-year deal starting in 2024". Sportsnet.ca. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  8. ^ "WWE No Escape". WWE (in German). Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  9. ^ Hoffmann, Martin (February 20, 2018). "Darum hat eine WWE-Show zwei Namen" [This is why a WWE show has two names]. Sport1 (in German). Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  10. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  11. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  12. ^ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  13. ^ "John Cena announces that he will retire in 2025". WWE. July 6, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  14. ^ WWE [@WWE] (February 1, 2025). "BREAKING: @JohnCena just announced that he will be competing in this year's Elimination Chamber Match to secure a path towards an opportunity to become a 17-time champ at #WrestleMania 41!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 1, 2025 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Defelice, Robert (February 2, 2025). "Jey Uso, Charlotte Flair, More Added To Monday's WWE Raw". Fightful. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  16. ^ a b c Powell, Jason (February 3, 2025). "WWE Raw results (2/3): Powell's live review of Royal Rumble winners Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair appear, CM Punk vs. Sami Zayn, and Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan in Elimination Chamber qualifying matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  17. ^ a b Powell, Jason (February 7, 2025). "WWE Smackdown results (2/7): Powell's live review of Royal Rumble winners Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair's appearances, Elimination Chamber qualifying matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  18. ^ a b c Powell, Jason (February 10, 2025). "WWE Raw results (2/10): Powell's live review of Logan Paul vs. Rey Mysterio and Lyra Valkyria vs. Bayley in Elimination Chamber qualifiers, CM Punk and AJ Styles appear". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  19. ^ a b c d Powell, Jason (February 14, 2025). "WWE Smackdown results (2/14): Powell's live review of Tiffany Stratton vs. Nia Jax for the WWE Women's Championship, Elimination Chamber qualifying matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  20. ^ a b c Powell, Jason (February 17, 2025). "WWE Raw results (2/17): Powell's live review of Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor and Roxanne Perez vs. Raquel Rodriguez in Elimination Chamber qualifiers, AJ Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio, Penta vs. Pete Dunne". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 17, 2025.
  21. ^ Barnett, Jake (June 7, 2024). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (6/7): Barnett's review of Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles, Jade Cargill vs. Indi Hartwell, Johnny Gargano vs. Grayson Waller, Solo Sikoa anoints Tonga Loa". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 8, 2024. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  22. ^ Powell, Jason (July 6, 2024). "WWE Money in the Bank results: Powell's review of Damian Priest vs. Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship, two MITB ladder matches, Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker for the Intercontinental Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  23. ^ Powell, Jason (August 3, 2024). "WWE SummerSlam results: Powell's review of Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules match for the WWE Championship, Damian Priest vs. Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 4, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
  24. ^ Powell, Jason (January 3, 2025). "WWE Smackdown results (1/3): Powell's live review of Nia Jax vs. Naomi for the WWE Women's Championship, U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Andrade in a non-title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  25. ^ a b Powell, Jason (February 1, 2025). "WWE Royal Rumble results: Powell's live review of the Royal Rumble matches, Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens in a ladder match for the WWE Title, DIY vs. MCMG in a best of three falls match for the WWE Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  26. ^ Powell, Jason (January 20, 2025). "WWE Raw results (1/20): Powell's live review of Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre, Bayley vs. Nia Jax, Penta's second week, New Day's return to the ring, JBL's appearance". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
  27. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (February 14, 2025). "Sami Zayn Doesn't Know When He'll Be Cleared, 'When I Am, Me And Kevin Owens Will Go Again'". Fightful. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
  28. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (February 14, 2025). "Kevin Owens Challenges Sami Zayn To Find Him At WWE Elimination Chamber". Fightful. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
  29. ^ WWE.com Staff (February 3, 2025). "Men's Elimination Chamber Match". WWE. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  30. ^ WWE.com Staff (February 3, 2025). "Women's Elimination Chamber Match". WWE. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  31. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (February 15, 2025). "Women's Tag Team Bout Official For WWE Elimination Chamber". Fightful. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  32. ^ WWE.com Staff (February 17, 2025). "Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (Unsanctioned Match)". WWE. Retrieved February 17, 2025.
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