Drew McIntyre is facing an uphill climb to remain the WWE champion going into WrestleMania 37.

Shane McMahon and Adam Pearce announced McIntyre will put the title on the line in an Elimination Chamber match at the pay-per-view of the same name Feb. 21. His opponents will be five former world champions: Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, The Miz and Sheamus.

The WWE Championship wasn't defended at last year's Elimination Chamber PPV, likely because of Brock Lesnar's limited schedule. The title hasn't changed hands in a Chamber match since 2017, when Bray Wyatt was the last man standing in a contest that included Styles, The Miz, Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose and John Cena.

Handicapping the 2021 edition is difficult.

Having a world title move around so close to WrestleMania usually doesn't make sense because a major championship bout at The Showcase of the Immortals is often telegraphed months in advance. The best "WrestleMania Moments" pay off a storyline that unfolded over a prolonged period of time.

The groundwork for Kofi Kingston's historic victory over Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35, for example, was laid at Elimination Chamber months earlier, when Bryan outlasted Kingston in the main event.

There isn't a clear road for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 37 right now, though. McIntyre has already survived tests from Orton, Styles, Keith Lee, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Bobby Lashley and Seth Rollins. He's running out of potential challengers from the Raw roster.

The presence of Edge looms large following his win in the men's Royal Rumble match, which guarantees him a title shot at WrestleMania.

Elimination Chamber could be the perfect recipe to allow McIntyre to drop the belt without losing too much momentum in the process while setting the stage for something fresh in April.