Live tonight from the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, WWE presents Elimination Chamber 2025 on Peacock in the United States and on Netflix everywhere else. The full card is as follows:
John Cena vs CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre vs Logan Paul vs Damian Priest vs Seth Rollins in an Elimination Chamber match for a shot at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41; Liv Morgan vs Bianca Belair vs Alexa Bliss vs Bayley vs Naomi vs Roxanne Perez in an Elimination Chamber match for a shot at the WWE Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania 41; Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus vs Nia Jax and Candice LeRae; and Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens in an unsanctioned match.
The Countdown to the Elimination Chamber will start at 5PM ET and will stream on WWE’s social media properties while the actual premium live event will kick off at 7PM ET. The Elimination Chamber post show will air immediately following the conclusion of the event and will also air on WWE’s social media.
Ricky Saints, who won the DEFY title just a couple of weeks before making his debut on NXT, has surrendered the title as he is not allowed to wrestle for other promotions while under a WWE contract.
Saints, still using his Ricky Starks name then, won the title from KENTA on February 7 and never had a title defense.
“I wanted to give a quick message to the fans of Defy. It is an honor and privilege to be your Defy World Champion, and it was a big goal of mine to do just that when I defeated KENTA,” Saints said in a video uploaded on social media.
“But unfortunately, when opportunity knocks, I must answer. And as everyone probably knows by now, I definitely answered that knock and it is bittersweet because I have to relinquish the Defy World title,” he continued.
The promotion announced that a new champion will be decided at their upcoming Super 8XGP tournament on Saturday, March 15.
DEFY AFTERMATH
SAT. MARCH 15th | WA HALL
DEFY SUPER 8XGP will crown a new DEFY World Champion! Participants and matches will be announced soon.
Max added several more AEW pay-per-views and episodes of Dynamite to its catalog, but did not add every pay-per-view as it was originally reported a few weeks back.
Starting today, fans can watch the Revolution 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 pay-per-views along with the Dynasty 2024 and Double or Nothing 2024 pay-per-views as part of their Max subscription. Several episodes of Dynamite, ranging from January to March 2020 were also added.
To access content, you have to search for AEW in the Max app and select ‘AEW Special Events’ for the pay-per-views and ‘AEW’ for the Dynamite episodes. Max still has no AEW tab or one place where to access all AEW programming.
TKO Group Holdings, Inc., together with the Western Australian Government, today announced an expansion of their partnership for Perth to host four additional UFC and WWE events through 2026.
In addition, under a previous agreement with the WA Government, RAC Arena will host one UFC FIGHT NIGHT later this year. In total, Perth will host five UFC and WWE events over the next two years.
Said the Hon. Roger Cook MLA, Premier of Western Australia, “The return of UFC and WWE in 2025 is a major coup for Western Australia, following the roaring success of UFC 284 and WWE Elimination Chamber that collectively injected nearly $50 million into our economy last year. Both UFC and WWE have proven to be huge draw cards with a dedicated fan base, and we expect to see thousands of out-of-state visitors travel to Perth to attend these blockbusters.
Added Peter Dropick, Executive Vice President, Event Development and Operations for TKO, “Perth is a world-class city, home to many passionate UFC and WWE fans, and we’re thrilled to expand this partnership with the WA Government. Perth’s tourism hospitality is second to none, and UFC and WWE will proudly showcase the city and its wonderful people to the world through our global broadcasts reaching more than one billion homes across 170 countries. We thank Premier Cook and the WA Government for making this possible.”
WWE’s return to Perth will feature a massive weekend takeover later this year across three nights at RAC Arena, featuring SmackDown, a Premium Live Event, and Raw. These events follow the incredible success of WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth in February 2024, which attracted more than 52,000 fans to Optus Stadium and marked WWE’s long-awaited return to Australia—a milestone the WA Government played a key role in bringing about.
In 2024, UFC and the WA Government announced an agreement to bring two events to Perth over two years. The first event, UFC 305: DU PLESSIS vs. ADESANYA, was a record-breaking achievement, attracting a sold-out crowd of more than 14,000 fans and setting the mark for the highest-grossing event in RAC Arena history, breaking UFC’s own record set in 2023 with UFC 284: MAKHACHEV vs. VOLKANOVSKI. The second event under this original agreement with the WA Government, UFC FIGHT NIGHT, will be held at RAC Arena later this year.
Details for all five upcoming UFC and WWE events at RAC Arena, including ticket on-sale dates, bout cards, and participating WWE Superstars, will be announced in the months ahead.
Fans interested in an exclusive WWE presale opportunity can register now at: wwe.com/WWEAustralia2025.
Likewise, UFC fans can visit ufc.com/perth to register for exclusive UFC presale opportunities.
VIP Experience packages for all these events will also be available via On Location, TKO’s Official VIP Experience Provider. These exclusive packages offer premium seating, VIP access to events, all-inclusive hospitality, meet-and-greets with athletes and WWE Superstars, and more. Additional information will be made available at onlocationexp.com/perth.
LA Knight became the number one contender for the United States title after he won a mini tournament on Smackdown last night.
The tournament had three matches, with LA Knight defeating Santos Escobar in the first match, Jacob Fatu defeating Andrade in the second match, and Carmelo Hayes defeating Braun Strowman in the other match via disqualficiation.
The three winners then advanced to a triple threat match which Knight won after he pinned Hayes.
Knight was supposed to wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura for the title last night but plans changed and the tournament was done instead, pushing the title match to a future show.
The Rock appeared on Smackdown last night via a video which aired during the main event segment which had an in-ring interview with Cody Rhodes.
The Final Boss came to Toronto bearing gifts, with a custom, red pick-up truck driven into the arena, complete with the American Nightmare logo, to try and sweeten the deal for Cody to “sell his soul” tonight at Elimination Chamber.
He then went a little bit further, showing Cody a custom weight belt with “Cody’s Soul” written on it as well as the date June 11th, 2015, which is the date when Cody’s father, Dusty, passed away.
The Rock continued his sales pitch for Cody to be his corporate champion and told him he’ll see him at Elimination Chamber.
“I love you brother,” Rock said, as he blew a kiss.
TNA Wrestling officially announced the signing of Elijah, the former WWE Superstar better known as Elias.
Elijah made his TNA debut last week on the live episode of Impact from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, coming to the aid of TNA World champion Joe Hendry who was about to be attacked by Primo and Epico Colon.
Elijah joined Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM earlier today to talk about his signing.
The news on the TNA website mentions that he spent 10 years wrestling with WWE, saying he was a “multi-time champion,” although his only championship wins in the company were all the 24/7 title which he held four times.
WWE is returning to Perth, Australia along with the UFC as part of a new deal with the Western Australia government according to The West Australian newspaper.
WWE will hold Raw, Smackdown, and a premium live event at the RAC Arena, an entertainment and sporting venue which can seat up to 15,500 fans. It’s a relatively new arena, having opened in 2012 to the tune of AU $548.7 million.
The UFC will be holding two events in the city as well as part of the agreement between the government and TKO Group.
The Western Australian reports that all events will be held sometime in the next 18 months, although the WWE shows are set for the second half of 2025.
WWE visited Perth last year for the 2024 Elimination Chamber, packing more than 50,000 at the Optus Stadium.
WWE announced 12 new television tapings from end of April to end of June.
New Raw tapings are at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri on April 28, at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 12, at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, on May 19, at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 2, at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on June 16, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on June 23, and at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 30.
New Smackdown tapings will be at the First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, on May 16, at the EnMarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia on May 23, at the Thompson Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 30, at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, on June 13, and at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on June 20.
Tickets for all mentioned events go on pre-sale on Wednesday, March 5 and a general public sale follows on Friday, March 7.
Tomorrow’s Elimination Chamber premium live event has finally crossed the 30,000 ticket mark according to ticket tracking service @WrestleTix.
There are currently just over 31,500 tickets distributed for the show, with the Rogers Center set up for 33,287 seats, leaving around 1,700 tickets available.
The cheapest ticket available on Ticketmaster is CA $137.90 while the most expensive is CA $3,219.57 for ringside. There are quite a bit of floor tickets remaining as of this writing.
Seating count could be expanded over the next day if there’s a good final day of ticket sales.
Dynamite this week drew 598,000 viewers, up 35,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.18 rating in 18-49, up 0.01 from the previous week and placed #5 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. The numbers do not reflect the viewers on Max. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
A total of four new matches were added to the upcoming TNA Sacrifice streaming event after last night’s Impact on AXS TV.
The new matches include Moose vs Jeff Hardy in a ladder match for the TNA X Division title, Tessa Blanchard vs Lei Ying Lee, Sami Callihan vs Mance Warner in a street fight, and a 10-man tag team match featuring TNA World champion Joe Hendry, Matt Hardy, Elijah, and two still to be determined partners vs The Colons, Brian Myers, JDC, and Eddie Edwards.
TNA Sacrifice airs on Friday, March 14 live from the El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas, exclusively on TNA+.
Former six-time champion Dave Bautista will be one of the presenters at this Sunday’s Academy Awards.
His name was announced by The Academy as part of the fourth slate of presenters for the 97th Oscars. Harrison Ford, Gal Gadot, Andrew Garfield, Samuel L. Jackson, Margaret Qualley, Alba Rohrwacher, Zoe Saldana, and Rachel Zegler were announced with Bautista as presenters as well.
His last match on WWE television was at WrestleMania 35, losing to Triple H in a No Holds Barred bout. He announced his retirement from wrestling the following day. Bautista was supposed to enter the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020 but the event was postponed due to the pandemic and was supposed to enter the 2021 class. However, Bautista had a scheduling conflict and he requested that his induction would be postponed to a later year.
Bautista is currently attached to six upcoming movies.
The Oscars will air on ABC as well as Hulu this Sunday starting at 7PM ET.
Leyla Hirsch’s contract with All Elite Wrestling expires today and will be officially a free agent come Midnight.
The Russian-born 28-year-old joined AEW in early 2021 and was last seen on AEW television in June of last year. Hirsch also wrestled for Ring of Honor where her last match with the company came in December during the Final Battle event, losing to Red Velvet as she went for the ROH Women’s TV title.
Hirsch has not addressed her status publicly yet and the story was originally broken by PWInsider.com.
TKO Group Holdings, Inc., a premium sports and entertainment company, today announced the close of its acquisition of IMG, On Location, and Professional Bull Riders from Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc.
“These industry-leading businesses will strengthen our portfolio of world-class IP and capabilities, helping us further capitalize on the momentum of the growing sports and entertainment ecosystem,” said Mark Shapiro, President and COO of TKO. “By enhancing our expertise in sports rights, production, and premium events and experiences, we are better positioned to power the growth of UFC, WWE, and our extraordinary roster of partners.”
IMG is a leading global sports marketing agency servicing more than 200 rightsholders – including The R&A (The British Open), the All England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon), and Major League Soccer (MLS) – across media rights, production, brand partnerships, digital content, and event management. On Location is a leading provider of premium hospitality and live experiences for more than 1,200 sporting events, including all premier NFL events, FIFA World Cup 26TM, and the Milano Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. PBR is the world’s premier bull riding organization, promoting more than 200 global events annually.
TKO’s acquisition of IMG does not include businesses associated with the IMG brand in licensing, models, and tennis and golf representation, nor IMG’s full events portfolio, which remain part of Endeavor.
The new number one contender for the AEW World title will be determined at Revolution with a new match on the card.
Announced last night, Swerve Strickland will be taking on Ricochet in their second one-on-one in an AEW ring, but this time, the stakes are even higher.
Ricochet has a win over Strickland from their first encounter in February.
The AEW World title match at Revolution will feature Jon Moxley defending against Cope.
AEW will not see any change on Max after the streaming service announced that it is eliminating live sports from their ad tier.
Warner Bros. Discovery announced yesterday that their $10 paywall plan for B/R Sports is not moving forward while sports and news from CNN will be going away from the ad tier starting March 30 and be made available only on the ad-free, more expensive tier.
In all news articles from major outlets, AEW was not even mentioned as live weekly content but in a separate e-mail answering questions about AEW, Max said that the change does not affect AEW and both Dynamite and Collision will continue to be made available on all tiers of the streaming service.
AEW started simulcasting on Max in early January, with nearly all of its video library made available on-demand on the service sometime this year.
Popular artist Travis Scott will be appearing at the Elimination Chamber this Saturday night live from the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
The news came via a post on social media by Triple H, saying that he was with him at ComplexCon in Las Vegas, he helped usher the new Netflix era, and now, he’s going to be at the Chamber.
“I’ll see you there, Travis Scott,” Triple H said as he walked across the WWE headquarters.
WWE is using the 10-time Grammy nominee’s song FE!N as the theme song for WrestleMania 41.
Roman Reigns has been added to two Smackdown episodes which will happen overseas next month on the road to WrestleMania.
Reigns is now being advertised for the March 21 Smackdown from the Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy, and the March 28 Smackdown from The O2 Arena in London, England.
The Tribal Chief has not appeared on WWE television since the January 6 Raw debut on Netflix.
CM Punk has also been added to these two Smackdown episodes as well as the March 17 episode of Raw at Forest National in Brussels, Belgium.
Some locations have suffered in terms of ticket sales in this European tour, mainly because of high ticket prices.
