The Elimination Chamber is a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was founded by

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

, created and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

structure which encloses the ring. The chamber's floor is platformed over the ringside area which elevates it to ring level. Within the chamber are four inner enclosures outside each ring corner. While similar in profile and nature to WWE's original large scale steel-structured match

Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a five-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fen ...

, the Elimination Chamber match is a multiple participant match wherein two participants begin the match in the ring as the remaining four are held within each inner enclosure and are released into the match at five-minute intervals (in the event of a seven-person Chamber match, three participants begin, and in the event of a tag team Chamber match, two teams begin for a total of four participants starting). The objective is to eliminate each opponent from the match via

pinfall In wrestling, a pin is achieved by holding an opponent's shoulders to the mat for a three count. Pinfall is the term used in professional wrestling which is a way to win the match for that person or team. Background A pinfall is a victory condi ...

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

. The winner is the last remaining participant (or team) after all others have been eliminated. As in the Hell in a Cell match, disqualifications do not apply. The original structure was high, in

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid f ...

, weighed over and comprised and of

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. ...

. Before the establishment of the yearly Elimination Chamber

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

(PPV) in 2010, the match was contested at other PPV events. There have been 30 Elimination Chamber matches in WWE since the concept's inception in November 2002.

History

Origin

Before the introduction of the Elimination Chamber match, WWE only promoted two matches in a caged environment, namely the steel cage and

matches. The steel cage was the first type of cage-based match in professional wrestling and consisted of four fenced walls of steel surrounding the ring apron while the Hell in a Cell was a taller roofed version that surrounded the ring and ringside area on the ground rather than the apron. In 2002, WWE announced the creation of the Elimination Chamber, a match that combined elements of WWE's Hell in a Cell matches, Royal Rumble match, Survivor Series matches, and

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

's (WCW)

WarGames match WarGames is a specialized steel cage match in professional wrestling. The match usually involves two teams of either four, five, or more wrestlers locked inside a steel cage that encompasses two rings placed side by side. The cage may or may not ...

es, such as the

countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and ev ...

timer and time intervals from the Royal Rumble and War Games matches, the large enclosed cage format of both Hell in a Cell and WarGames and the elimination process from the Survivor Series contest and the Royal Rumble.

Brand and pay-per-view designation

To exploit additional on-screen talent after buying

(WCW) in March 2001, the following year WWE began a

brand extension Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use thi ...

that divided the roster between the two brands of WWE, namely Raw and SmackDown. Former WCW President and then Raw

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Eric Bischoff formally announced the creation of the chamber during the October 21 episode of '' Raw'' and scheduled the match to feature participants from the Raw brand roster at the

Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the se ...

in November 2002. The match was exclusive to the Raw brand for the first four matches and at joint-branded pay-per-view events, but upon the creation of the ECW brand in 2006 the match was instead promoted for the newly created brand at December to Dismember. Beginning in 2008, the match became exclusive to the No Way Out event and two Elimination Chamber matches were featured annually for two years among the three brands. In 2010, WWE replaced their No Way Out event with the self-titled Elimination Chamber, a new event which continued the tradition of its predecessor. From 2008 to 2014, the match had been featured in February events only. An Elimination Chamber event took place on May 31, 2015 exclusively on the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television t ...

. After the second brand extension in 2016, it was announced that the brands would return to having separate events. In late 2016, it was announced that Elimination Chamber would return as a SmackDown-exclusive event in February 2017, but it switched to being Raw-exclusive in February 2018, which was the last brand-exclusive Elimination Chamber event, as following WrestleMania 34 that year, brand-exclusive pay-per-views were discontinued.

Injuries

Superplex (Professional wrestling aerial technique)

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

suffered an injury during the 2002 Survivor Series match with swelling on the inside of his throat which put pressure on his

esophagus The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to t ...

and

trachea The trachea, also known as the windpipe, is a cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all air- breathing animals with lungs. The trachea extends from t ...

. This was caused after

Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

performed the Five Star Frog Splash off the top of one of the chambers. Triple H also expressed concern that he might have broken his wrist and noted anything could have caused it.

Sheamus Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European i ...

reportedly suffered a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration ...

during the Raw Elimination Chamber match in 2010. Also in 2010,

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majorit ...

was involved in a pyrotechnics accident during his ring entrance. He was temporarily engulfed in flames on three occasions when the pyrotechnics were mistimed and his jacket briefly caught on fire. He suffered first and second-degree burns to his neck and chest and according to a WWE spokesperson the injury "looked like a bad sunburn". He was only allowed to participate in the match after being cleared by a ringside doctor and was given bottles of water throughout the match to douse himself with to alleviate the discomfort. Acknowledging the concern, WWE now had padded the steel floor of chamber.

Match

Rules

The Elimination Chamber match is a variation of elimination-based matches which draws elements from steel cage and Hell in a Cell matches in that the

wrestling ring A wrestling ring is the stage on which a professional wrestling match usually occurs. It is similarly constructed to a boxing ring and is traditionally square-shaped. Configuration and construction The configuration and construction of the tra ...

is surrounded by a large steel-fenced cage supported by

girder A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizin ...

s. Originally, its design was a circular-like chain-linked structure, but since 2017 it is now square and encloses the ring. Its floor is platformed over the ringside area around the ring which elevates and levels it with the ring mat. Within the Elimination Chamber, four enclosures, referred to as inner chambers or pods, are encased in

plexiglass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acryli ...

and face the outside of each ring post. The match is contested by six or seven participants: two or three starting in the ring, while the other four are held within each inner chamber. The Elimination Chamber in February 2018 featured a seven-man chamber match in which three participants began. At regular intervals, one of the four participants within an inner chamber enters the match. This continues until all four have been released. The entrance intervals are typically five minutes, though four and three minute gaps have also been used. The objective of the match is to eliminate each opponent from the match by scoring a

or a

. These can occur in the ring or on the chamber's elevated floor, but starting with the 2010 event all pinfalls and submissions must take place within the ring. Disqualifications and count-outs do not apply in the process of elimination. The winner of the match is the last remaining participant after all others have been eliminated (or after all members of the opposing tag team are eliminated in either the tag team matches or the twelve-on-twelve tornado tag team elimination matches). The same rules apply when the match involves six tag teams, where two teams start in the ring and a new team leaves the pod and enters the ring at regular intervals.

Structure

According to a ''

WWE Magazine ''WWE Magazine'' was the official professional wrestling magazine of WWE. This incarnation of the magazine contains lifestyle sections, a monthly calendar, entertainment, work out tips, and other information. It was announced in July 2014 that ...

'' article in 2009 by WWE's

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

Jason Robinson, who co-designed the structure, several designs for the Elimination Chamber were considered. The structure was manufactured in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

and took six to eight weeks to make from design blueprints. It cost US$ 250,000 to construct. The structure is made of black-painted steel with an outer structure of 16 frames, each weighing . The chamber is high and in diameter and weighs a total of , 10 of which consists of steel. Each inner chamber consists of three large steel framed sheets of

, costing US$225 per sheet. The chains that surround the chamber stretch long and weigh . A flatbed truck is needed to transport the chamber. Assembly in the arena takes eight hours to complete and eight motors are used to suspend the structure over the ring before each event. When not in use, the structure is stored at a dock in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

. Unlike standard steel cage matches and Hell in a Cell matches, Elimination Chamber matches cannot be held at several arenas due to the structure's massive size and weight, similar to how

es could only be held at certain arenas. This would play a factor in WWE dropping the annual Elimination Chamber event. In 2017, the Elimination Chamber event returned (2017's event was SmackDown-exclusive while 2018's was Raw-exclusive). In addition, the chamber structure was redesigned, becoming square instead of circular. The pods were also changed from circular to square and feature sliding doors that referees slide open from outside the chamber. At the top of the chamber at its center which is now tall is a large cutout of the WWE logo. The steel grates between the ring and the cage were also replaced with padding. LED lights also line the corners of the structure. The redesign was for practical purposes due to certain venues only being able to house the previous structure, allowing most venues to host the Chamber.

Variations

The fifth match, held by the ECW brand at December to Dismember, was a slight variation called the Extreme Elimination Chamber. In this variation, each chamber had one of four

weapons A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

for the competitors locked inside to hold on to. When each competitor's chamber opened, their weapon entered the match with them. The four weapons used in the match were a

crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy or jimmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool ...

, a table, a steel folding chair and a

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is ...

-wrapped

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...

. The 2015 Elimination Chamber event saw another slight variation of the match, namely the tag team chamber match. Both team members were inside of their respective pods, for a total of six tag teams in the match. Two teams, totaling four individual participants, started the match. This match was for the

WWE Tag Team Championship WWE (formerly the WWF, the WWWF, and Capitol Wrestling) has maintained at least one primary tag team championship for its male performers since 1958 (except for a two year interim between 1967 and 1969). During periods of brand division, separat ...

. This variation was repeated in 2019, but for women and to determine the inaugural holders of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Another tag team chamber match happened in 2020 for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The 2018 Elimination Chamber featured the first seven-man chamber match. Due to the extra person, three competitors started the match instead of two. The 2018 event also featured the first women's chamber match, but there were no variations in the rules.

Interference

Despite the structure, interference has become common inside the Elimination Chamber. At

New Year's Revolution WWE New Year's Revolution was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 2005 and its name was a play on the Western tradition of New Year's resolutions, ...

in January 2005,

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

distracted guest referee

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one ...

. allowing Batista (who had been eliminated) to attack

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. He is widely regarded as one of the grea ...

could win the match. At No Way Out in February 2009,

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...

attacked Kofi Kingston during his entrance and locked himself in one of the pods becoming a participant in the match for the World Heavyweight Championship after losing the

WWE Championship The WWE Championship is a World championship (professional wrestling), world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand di ...

earlier in the night. At Elimination Chamber in February 2010,

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (''né'' Runnels; born June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Rhodes is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AE ...

passed Ted DiBiase Jr. a metal pipe which he used to eliminate Randy Orton in the match for the WWE Championship. Later in the night, Shawn Michaels broke into the chamber to cost

his World Heavyweight Championship to

. At the Elimination Chamber event in February 2013,

Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American former powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator/analyst, coach, and talent scout. He is b ...

took out the remaining participants in the chamber for a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 29 after being eliminated until SmackDown General Manager

Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 1944 ...

broke it up. At the Elimination Chamber for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in February 2014, The Wyatt Family interfered by attacking

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied ...

, leading to his eventual elimination by Randy Orton. Kane would then come out to help escort The Wyatt Family out of the chamber, but would then interfere to cost Daniel Bryan the match to Orton.

Match history

The Elimination Chamber debuted at WWE's event

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

in November 2002. Since the inaugural match, there have been 29 other matches (30 overall) as of Elimination Chamber in February 2022. The Raw brand has been featured the most with 14 matches, including its joint-branded match with SmackDown. ECW has been featured in two matches, including its joint-branded match with SmackDown. The SmackDown brand has been featured in nine matches, including the joint-branded matches with both ECW and Raw. The Elimination Chamber event has featured more Elimination Chamber matches than any other WWE pay-per-view event, with seventeen matches being held.

has the most victories with four.

and

hold the distinctions of being involved in the most Elimination Chamber matches to date (8) and Jericho has eliminated the most wrestlers (10).

Braun Strowman Adam Joseph Scherr (born September 6, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and former strongman. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Braun Strowman. In WWE, he is a one-time U ...

and Shayna Baszler have the most eliminations in a single Elimination Chamber match (5); Baszler is also the only winner to eliminate all other opponents in a single match. The majority of matches have been contested for a top-tier championship with the

(once as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship) being contested for the most in eight matches. The World Heavyweight Championship has the second-most at seven matches, while the ECW World Championship,

, SmackDown Tag Team Championship, Intercontinental Championship, and Raw Women's Championship being contested in one match each. Seven matches (two in 2008 and one in 2011, 2013, 2018, 2020, and 2022) awarded the winners the number-one contendership for the WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship,

WWE Universal Championship The WWE Universal Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two world titles for WWE's main roster, a ...

, and Raw Women's Championship, respectively, at those years'

WrestleMania WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event held annually between mid-March and mid-April by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Since premiering in 1985, 37 editions followed, mos ...

; in 2021, SmackDown's Chamber match awarded the winner the number-one contendership for the Universal Championship that same night, which happened immediately after the Chamber match itself. The Elimination Chamber match has been contested only in

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...

s in the United States and once each in Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia. From 2008 to 2014, the match had been featured in February pay-per-view events only. An Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event took place on May 31, 2015 exclusively on the

. The Elimination Chamber in February 2018 featured the first seven-man Elimination Chamber match as well as the first Elimination Chamber match for women with the Raw Women's Championship contested. The Elimination Chamber in February 2019 featured a tag team Elimination Chamber match, the second overall tag team chamber match, but this time for women to determine the inaugural holders of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

Participant list

Males

Braun Strowman holds the record for the most eliminations in a single Elimination Chamber match at 5.

Females

Compilation release

In July 2010, WWE released ''Satan's Prison: The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber'', a DVD featuring every Elimination Chamber match as of the 2010 Elimination Chamber. The European release of the DVD is titled ''Iron Will'', primarily over the name change of the structure, match type and pay-per-view in Germany to avoid a

brand blunder A brand blunder is an error associated with the branding of a product, especially a new product in a new market. Reasons for such slips include the lack of understanding of the language, culture and consumer attitudes in the new market. There ar ...

with the Elimination Chamber name as it may create imagery of

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History ...

s during

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...

(the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, structure and match are called No Escape in Germany).

Notes

References

{{reflist

External links

WWE.com – Elimination Chamber match description

Elimination Chamber Statistics
WWE match types WWE Elimination Chamber de:Wrestling-Matcharten#Elimination Chamber it:Tipi di match di wrestling#Elimination Chamber Match