The History & Evolution of WWE’s Elimination Chamber
Photo Credit: SportsKeeda
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As many of you may have read in my first article, I am a wrestling fan from way back. When I say way back, I realize that I’m only 34 years old but I feel like I’ve been watching wrestling since I came out of the womb. I was born in December 1988, but I vividly remember seeing things happening in NWA in 1990 and 1992, WWF in 1993 and 1994, and so on. With that being said, many of my articles that you will read on WrestleBuddy will be based on old school topics.
As we head further down the road to WrestleMania, I felt it would be a fun and educational trip down memory lane to talk about the history of the Elimination Chamber. For many years now, the Elimination Chamber has been a steppingstone from the Royal Rumble to WrestleMania. The chamber match itself often serving as a springboard for feuds into WrestleMania, whether placing contenders in championship matches, titles changing hands or solidifying other feuds (ex: Shawn Michaels & The Undertaker in 2010). Every story has a beginning and this one actually begins before the creation of the structure in 2002.
The history of the structure dubbed as “Satan’s Prison” actually dates back to 1987, because the concept of the Chamber was truly derived from the NWA/WCW War Games match. “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes created “the match beyond” as a way to help settle feuds with The Four Horsemen. The match allowed all members to compete at once in a double-ring scenario. Rhodes was a very respected individual around the world of wresting, and other spinoffs of War Games were used in various promotions, but not necessarily in WWF/E. The War Games match requires two rings, thus eliminating seats in arenas, which was one of the main pushbacks WWF/E management had in doing a match of that sort. The WWF/E’s alternative to War Games came in the form of Hell in a Cell in 1997, in which they took their regular steel cage match and put a roof on it, while creating some walking space around the side of the ring. However, in 2001, the WWF/E bought WCW, and in doing so, acquired all the current assets of WCW. It was then that many wrestlers, backstage personnel and fans were clamoring for WWF/E to finally have their very own War Games match, but it still didn’t happen.
Yet, in 2002, an alternative to War Games was created. Even though in an on-screen kayfabe world, Eric Bischoff was announced as the mastermind behind the Elimination Chamber, it was actually Triple H would created the concept of the structure. One of Triple H’s heroes in the wrestling business was Dusty Rhodes, and Hunter was one of the superstars that always pushed for a War Games-type match in WWE, so it would make sense that he would create this match and draw inspiration from not only Dusty’s creation but other gimmick matches in WWE. The multiple men involved in the match (Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, War Games), the elimination aspect of the match (Royal Rumble, Survivor Series), the intervals in which participants enter the match (Royal Rumble), the cage with a roof (Hell in a Cell, War Games) and finally no disqualifications and no count-outs (all matches previously listed). It seemed like the perfect storm of the next great match in WWE…until it was built. The Elimination Chamber is billed to weigh 10 tons, and the way the structure must be put together and hung from the ceiling of an arena, many arenas weren’t able to house the original structure. The original design of the Chamber was also very tough for the wrestlers to work in as the outside provided no give for bumps. The design of the Chamber would be modified in later years, but we’ll get to that later.
The first Elimination Chamber match would take place at the 2002 Survivor Series PPV at Madison Square Garden. It was on that night that Shawn Michaels would win his 4th (and final) WWE Championship (called the World Heavyweight Championship at the time) by outlasting then-champion Triple H, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Booker T., and Kane. Obviously, there can only ever been one “first” and this match set the tone for years to come. Some memorable moments from that match (can be considered good or bad depending on your interpretation):
- Shawn Michaels wore unfinished ring gear that night, that was brown, a stark difference from other HBK gear
- Chris Jericho made his first of 8 Elimination Chamber appearances that night, which is tied for the most all-time. Jericho also holds the record for most total eliminations in Elimination Chamber matches, with 10.
- Chris Jericho was also played to the ring that night by Saliva live, as they performed their version of his theme music written for the WWF/E Forceable Entry album. The song was called “King of My World” and was one of the very few times Jericho would enter a WWE ring without his signature “Break The Walls Down” theme song.
- Triple H suffered various injuries including his throat swelling up and making it difficult to breathe due to RVD’s Five-Star Frog Splash where his knee landed directly on Hunter’s throat. Hunter also suffered a broken wrist that night.
- Kane would make his first of 5 Elimination Chamber match appearances, which is the second-most appearances all-time without a win.
- Rob Van Dam would appear in one other Elimination Chamber match in his career, which was the infamous Extreme Elimination Chamber (we’ll get to that in a bit).
- Booker T. made his only appearance in the Elimination Chamber of his career on this night in 2002.
Since its inception in 2002, the concept of the Elimination Chamber has not changed. However, it has gone through some different variations and had some twists and turns over the past 20 years. Let’s take a look at some of those:
2006: Extreme Elimination Chamber for the ECW Championship at December to Dismember
This one was a one-and-done, for good reason. The PPV itself had the lowest buy rate in company history until the creation of the WWE Network, so that alone tells you how this version of the Chamber is perceived. The concept of this “extreme” variation was that when the pod was opened for a superstar to enter the match, their weapon would enter the match with them.
The participants included then-ECW Champion Big Show, CM Punk, Rob Van Dam, Hardcore Holly, Test and the eventual winner of the match, Bobby Lashley. One reason this match is so poorly received is because ECW original Sabu was scheduled to be in the match, but was removed the night of, seemingly because the WWE creative team didn’t see him as a legitimate competitor without the aid of gimmicks and weapons. Another reason for the negative perception of this match is because it was just poorly booked. WWE was seemingly building ECW around mid-card to low-top-tier guys, and the fans just weren’t having it. Sure they were getting behind RVD as an ECW original, but removing Sabu from the equation, combined with the young fan-favorite CM Punk losing (which was originally what Paul Heyman pushed for but was overruled), all made for a night WWE fans want to forget.
2015: Other championships defended inside the Elimination Chamber
In 2010, the WWE rebranded their February PPV event (previously titled No Way Out) to Elimination Chamber and becoming a traditional stop on the road to WrestleMania, as mentioned above. By the time we get to 2015, not only does WWE move the Chamber event to May (only lasted one year) but they give us two variations of the Chamber match in one night. One of those variations being the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match with the Tag Team Championship on the line. The defending champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) retained the titles over The Ascension (Viktor & Konnor), Los Matadores (Primo & Epico), the Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O’Neil), the Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara), and Cesaro & Tyson Kidd. While this match received mixed reviews by wrestling journalists, it would be a springboard for 2 other tag team Chamber matches in the future, one of which would be for the first ever WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.
The second variation WWE gave us in 2015 was a Chamber match for a mid-card title. At the time, the Intercontinental Championship was vacant due to Daniel Bryan’s injury, so it was decided that the title would be awarded to the winner of the 2nd Elimination Chamber match of that evening. The ever-controversial and seemingly outspoken Ryback would actually be the one standing victorious at the end, as he defeated Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry, King Barrett, R-Truth and Sheamus. Unlike the previous Chamber match that night, this one did not receive mixed reviews; this one was seemingly all bad. In fact, many fans have a tough time decided between this match and the above-listed Extreme Elimination Chamber, as the worst one in history. One of the main reasons it is looked at so negatively is the circumstances surrounding the title in the match. Daniel Bryan had to forfeit the championship due to concussion issues. This was of course during the time where Daniel Bryan was easily the biggest babyface in the company and the crowd wasn’t shy about letting you know that. In fact, just look at the 2015 Royal Rumble and how that turned out. So I think fans used that reasoning, combined with the fact that the work in the match just wasn’t great and there weren’t many storylines to grab onto, it became a recipe for disaster.
2017: The Elimination Chamber structure is re-designed
After taking a year off from having the event, the Elimination Chamber structure was re-designed. The changing of the design not only allowed the structure to be more wrestler-friendly but it became easier for more arenas to house the Chamber itself, so WWE wasn’t forced to only run certain venues with the Chamber. The Chamber became a square instead of round, padding on the outside floor replaced steel grates and was actually built 10 feet higher than the original structure. This new designed was debuted at the 2017 Elimination Chamber event that saw only one Chamber match that night and it was for the World Heavyweight Championship. Bray Wyatt would secure a victory and his first World Championship by pinning AJ Styles. Other participants in the match included then-champion John Cena, Dean Ambrose, The Miz and Baron Corbin. The new structure debuted that night is still used today. The above picture is actually one I personally took at WrestleMania Axxess in New Orleans in 2018.
2018: The women enter the Chamber for the first time
In 2018, the Women’s Revolution took another big step as the female superstars entered the Elimination Chamber for the very first time. Alexa Bliss would hold onto her Raw Women’s Championship that night as she successfully defended against Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. This was in the middle of an incredible run by Alexa Bliss, who at this point, was the only woman to win both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships, despite not winning the NXT Women’s Title or having a single TakeOver match. Nonetheless, Bliss was given the spotlight on the main roster and she proved why she deserved it, especially in this match. Not only was her performance in the match great, but the promo she cut afterwards was one of the best of her run. A promo that began as being thankful and humble for winning the first female Chamber match quickly turned to the Goddess reminding everyone that she rules the Women’s division. The way she was able to manipulate the audience with her mic skills, both in attendance and watching at home, was a piece of art that many consider the best promo of her career.
Over the last 20 years, the Elimination Chamber has become one of the more popular, yet devastating structures in all of WWE. No matter your opinion on gimmick matches becoming stand-alone PPV events, I think most would agree that the Chamber match itself provides drama, excitement, violence and all-around enjoyment that there’s something for everyone in this gimmick match. While this article takes you through the history of the Elimination Chamber match and some of the milestones we’ve seen over the past 20 years, check out my article next week as I will countdown the biggest moments, matches and performers we’ve seen in “Satan’s Prison”.
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