Ever since its inception, the Elimination Chamber match has managed to capture the imagination of WWE fans. The steel structure with ideal rule set is sure to entertain the fans at every corner and it wouldn’t be any different this Sunday. WWE has lined up some interesting matches for the show and we might get to see some awesome moments as well.
The superstars competing inside the chamber on Sunday will however have some benchmarks from the past to meet. Over the years, there have been a lot of standout moments and jaw-dropping spots from the Elimination Chamber matches and here is a run-down of them:
Honorable Mention: Santino Marella surprises everyone (2012)
Santino Marella was probably never taken seriously by the WWE fans. Throughout his career, he was treated as a comedic character and that is why in 2012, he almost caused the biggest surprise of the PG era.
First of all, no one saw anything serious when Santino was included in the chamber match. Everyone though that Marella was just a filler character but that assumption soon turned on its head when he eliminated Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett.
Marella was just moments away from being the World Champion when he almost came through Daniel Bryan as well. But WWE decided that it was better to end the fairy tale story there than giving Santino the World Championship.
Edge Cashes in (2006)
Technically this did not happen in the chamber. Instead, it happened after the chamber match. The incident happened at the New Year’s resolution pay-per-view of 2006. John Cena battled through a grueling Elimination Chamber match to keep the title around his waist but was met with a big surprise once the match concluded.
Edge earned the tag of being the ultimate opportunist that day when he came out with the Money in the Bank briefcase. He cashed in the contract and it took him more than one spear to keep Cena down. Now, the best part about all this was the story it told. One had to feel sorry for Cena after all he went through inside the chamber.
John Morrison from top of the Chamber (2011)
Ever heard of this guy called Spiderman? Well, John Morrison was just like that during the 2011 Elimination Chamber match. Morrison was one of the underutilized WWE superstars of his time and it was moments like this which made the fans realize his worth.
Till that point, they only saw the ways in which superstars used the pods for highflying moves but John went some feet higher. He crawled through the chain to reach the top of the chamber and simply dropped onto Sheamus who was standing below. It was a dangerous and awesome move at the same time and the superstars will find it hard to beat this benchmark in the coming years.
Jeff Hardy With his Swanton (2009)
Jeff Hardy is known to do a lot of daredevil things. He has built his career around such a reputation and when he walked into the Elimination Chamber in 2009, the fans expected a lot out of him. And guess what, he did not disappoint.
Hardy climbed to the top of the pod and pulled off a Swanton Bomb from there. Even though Jeff had done several moves over the years, this one looked extra impressive as it happened in the chamber.
He landed perfectly on Big Show and though it did not reap him any big win, Hardy did make the crowd jump out of their seats. Watching this move over and over might make you realize why WWE is missing Jeff Hardy at the moment on their roster.
Shawn Michaels Attacks Undertaker (2010)
The legendary feud between Shawn Michaels and Undertaker saw some awesome moments including their back to back WrestleMania matches. One of such memorable moments happened in the 2010 Elimination Chamber as well.
During that time, Michaels was desperately running after Undertaker to get a rematch at WrestleMania but the dead man was not just giving in. So what Michaels did was, he hid under the ring throughout the match and came out when Taker was just about to win the World title.
Michaels came into the ring and delivered sweet chin music to Taker and made sure that he got his rematch at WrestleMania. No one expected Michaels to poke up like that and the surprise element really caught everyone perfectly.
Why everyone loves Goldberg (2003)
Goldberg’s stay in WWE was pretty forgettable. He never reached the momentum he had back in WCW but he did have a memorable outing at Elimination Chamber. Goldberg was in an Elimination Chamber match against Triple H, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2003.
He was the clear favorite in the match and once he got out of that pod, Goldberg was on a rampage. He destroyed everyone in his path and eliminated the likes of Orton, Jericho and Michaels just like that. Goldberg also delivered that iconic spear through the pod to Jericho at one point. The domination however, was not good enough to get a win but he did shock everyone with his performance.
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