Sports
Ranking the Most Memorable Elimination Chamber Matches in WWE History
0 of 7The 2017 installment of the Elimination Chamber is widely regarded as one of the best of all-time by fans.Credit: WWE.comHaving been around in WWE since 2002, the Elimination Chamber match often doesn’t get the credit it deserves from fans for being such a great gimmick.Similar to the Money in the Bank Ladder match,…
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The 2017 installment of the Elimination Chamber is widely regarded as one of the best of all-time by fans.Credit: WWE.com
Having been around in WWE since 2002, the Elimination Chamber match often doesn't get the credit it deserves from fans for being such a great gimmick.
Similar to the Money in the Bank Ladder match, it's difficult for an Elimination Chamber matchup to underwhelm. It typically consists of six Superstars who have a score to settle and are looking to break out in a major way ahead of WrestleMania.
The Chamber's updated design that debuted in 2017 hasn't taken away from its haunting aura in the slightest. In fact, it seems to be more grueling in nature now than ever before, especially with everyone involved pulling out all the stops to emerge victorious.
Champions have been known to overcome the odds and retain their titles, but not everyone who has entered the Elimination Chamber has been so lucky. Satan's Prison can launch a career as much as it can shorten one; either way, it's rare the Chamber combatants walk out the same as they walked in.
The two Chamber matches on tap for Sunday night should be no exception and have the potential to be a blast based on who will be taking part. However, it'll be tough for them to top these seven memorable installments from years past that helped mold the match type into what it is today.
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The original of almost anything sets the bar so high that it's nearly impossible for the successors to match its greatness, and the same can be said for the inaugural installment of the Elimination Chamber match.
The World Heavyweight Championship picture was stacked with star power in late 2002. That led to then-Raw general manager Eric Bischoff coming up with the idea to put six of Raw's top talents in a structure so sinister that only one could emerge as champion.
Among those men were World Heavyweight champion Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, Kane and Booker T. All of the challengers already had bad blood with The Game and were willing to go to great lengths to take that title from him.
What made this match even more magical, in addition to it being the debut of the Chamber, was the venue in which it occurred: Madison Square Garden. The rowdy crowd that night rallied behind Michaels to claim his first world title in nearly five years, and when he did, the roof nearly blew off the building.
Better yet, this was Michaels' only second match back after retiring from the ring in 1998. His title reign didn't last long, but that match and subsequent moment of him capturing the championship will forever be etched in the minds of fans.
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WWE went years without having a truly classic Chamber match before stumbling upon one in 2008 at the No Way Out pay-per-view. For the first time ever, two Elimination Chambers were held in the same night to determine the number one contenders for the two top titles at WrestleMania 24, though the Raw version ended up being superior.
That year's Royal Rumble winner John Cena cashed in his guaranteed title shot against Randy Orton early. Thus, it was anyone's guess who would reign supreme from Satan Prison's as the next challenger to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
The match was brutal, barbaric, and downright diabolical. Two of the Chamber combatants, Chris Jericho and JBL, had been feuding for months and essentially cancelled each other out by putting all of their effort in ensuring their rival didn't leave on their own two feet.
Up-and-comers Umaga and Jeff Hardy had strong showings and lasted a long time while Shawn Michaels put everything he had into his emotional performance. However, it was Triple H who reigned supreme by avenging his loss to The Heartbreak Kid inside the Chamber six years earlier and punching his ticket to WrestleMania.
You'll be hard-pressed to find another Chamber match where the all of the Superstars involved were such elite athletes and went to war quite like these guys did.
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One year removed from that excellent Elimination Chamber match, Raw produced another gem at the 2009 installment of No Way Out, this time with the World Heavyweight Championship up for grabs.
John Cena captured the title upon beating Chris Jericho three months earlier at Survivor Series and was primed to overcome the odds, until he didn't. It took three devastating finishers from the rest of the Superstars in this match to put Cena down the count, guaranteeing a new champion.
All bets were off at that point and the pace picked up big time. Mike Knox and Kane were eliminated relatively early on, which left Rey Mysterio, Edge and Jericho to kill it as only they could. Sure enough, they delivered a phenomenal final stretch that the crowd was on their feet for the entire time.
It must be noted that Edge was never originally slated to take part in the match. Rather, he replaced Kofi Kingston at the last minute, making his ultimate victory here that much more shocking.
Edge starting the evening as WWE champion and ending it as World Heavyweight champion was certainly a twist fans didn't see coming and one that significantly shook up the road to WrestleMania. The Ultimate Opportunist had struck again.
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Edge was always scheduled to defend his World Heavyweight Championship inside the Elimination Chamber before facing Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania 27, but being stripped of the title shortly prior to the pay-per-view by Teddy Long temporarily threw those plans into disarray.
Two days before the event, Ziggler lost the belt back to Edge following a 15-minute reign) and was removed from the match due to being “fired” from SmackDown in storyline. That left a vacant spot in one of the pods, and although Christian was a popular choice, Big Show ultimately filled it.
It made sense because of how he had a bone to pick with Wade Barrett, so once he eliminated the leader of The Corre, it was logical that he too would be taken out. Drew McIntyre was also beaten by Kane soon after, so Edge and Rey Mysterio joined forces to pin Kane and send him packing from the Chamber.
The entire layout of the matchup was brilliant as the action was exciting, several stories were told, and everyone was able to shine at one point or another. There were a ton of moving parts and yet nothing felt like it dragged.
The closing minutes with Mysterio and Edge trading finishers was also excellent. Christian returning to save Edge from Del Rio following The Rated-R Superstar's win was simply the cherry on top.
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The road to WrestleMania in 2014 was frustrating for fans of the product, specifically those who adored Daniel Bryan and wanted nothing more than to see him succeed. Unfortunately, he was held down by the powers that be on countless occasions during this period, including at Elimination Chamber.
Joining him inside the WWE Championship Chamber match was then-champion Randy Orton, John Cena, Sheamus, Christian and Cesaro. No one made as much sense to win as Orton, but that didn't stop fans from holding out hope that Bryan could somehow pull out the victory.
Everything leading up to the suspenseful finish was beautifully executed. Sheamus and Christian effectively furthered their feud, Cesaro looked phenomenal in defeat, and The Wyatt Family emerged out of nowhere to cost Cena the championship (setting the stage for a WrestleMania match between Bray Wyatt and Cena).
Orton and Bryan were the final two remaining competitors and the audience was anxious to see who would advance to WrestleMania with the title. The WWE Universe had never before been more behind Bryan than they were on this night, so every time he came close to clinching the championship, the atmosphere was electric.
Just as he was closing in on the win, Bryan was thwarted by Corporate Kane, allowing Orton to capitalize and plant Bryan with an RKO to retain his title. The excessive amount of interference in this installment knocks it down a notch, but it was a prime example of how magic could be made inside the Elimination Chamber even when the end result wasn't ideal.
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John Cena must have felt like he was on top of the world following 2017's Royal Rumble pay-per-view when he won the WWE Championship for the sixteenth time, tying Ric Flair's legendary record in the process. Little did he know that an even greater challenge awaited him at Elimination Chamber.
SmackDown was the best it had been in years at the onset of 2017, so this Chamber match was heavily anticipated among fans. Cena's challengers included The Miz, Baron Corbin, AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt and Intercontinental champion Dean Ambrose.
Styles starting things off with Cena immediately sent the message that this was going to be a Chamber matchup for the ages, and it did not disappoint. Ambrose eventually entered the fray and treated fans to a rematch from the Triple Threat they had a few months earlier at No Mercy.
Corbin looked incredibly dominant in the few minutes he was in there before being swiftly eliminated by Ambrose. That served to set up their feud for the Intercontinental title heading into WrestleMania, while Cena pinning Miz paved the way for them to collide at the Show of Shows as well.
Wyatt pinning Cena in decisive fashion (something he could never do in 2014) guaranteed there would be a new champion. Styles seemed to be the likely choice given how his first title reign was so remarkable, but it was clear that Wyatt was ready to steal the spotlight and the coveted championship for himself.
Wyatt vs. Styles was something fans never thought they'd see but did at the conclusion of this contest. Their chemistry was off the charts, but after Wyatt countered Styles' Phenomenal Forearm into a Sister Abigail, it was all over.
The crowd popped huge for Wyatt finally getting his moment and being crowned the brand-new WWE champion for the first time in his career. It was the perfect ending to one of the greatest Chamber matches the company has produced to date.
7 of 7
Although the two women's Elimination Chambers that have been held since 2018 have been enjoyable, both of them pale in comparison to last year's WWE Championship Chamber match main event.
This also served as proof as why the pay-per-view of the same name would be better off happening later on in the year to avoid predictability. Daniel Bryan had been riding high as WWE champion for months and it was highly unlikely he'd drop the belt so close to WrestleMania 35.
That said, Kofi Kingston got hot seemingly overnight with his breakout performance in that Gauntlet match five days ahead of the event on SmackDown. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he'd walk out of the Chamber with his first WWE Championship, but much like Bryan five years earlier, the chances of that happening were believed to be slim to none.
Despite that, Kingston came across as a total mega star in this matchup. It helped that the Chamber was filled with the illustrious likes of Bryan, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles and Randy Orton, yet Kingston didn't feel out of place whatsoever.
Similar to its aforementioned predecessors, this Chamber featured a cool clash of styles as well as abundance of storytelling. Orton eliminating Styles gave The Phenomenal One a reason to want to target him heading into WrestleMania and Kingston pinning Orton gave him the revenge he had sought on The Viper after nearly a decade.
The arena was ready to come unglued for Kingston, but he narrowly fell short against The Planet's Champion. This was another instance where those final few minutes were exhilarating enough to cement the matchup's place among other all-time Chamber classics.
Elimination Chamber gave fans a small taste of what was to come in 2014 and 2019 with both Bryan and Kingston going on to become world champion at WrestleMania in those respective years. Whether we'll see a similar sight this year remains to be seen.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and “like” his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
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