Since debuting at Survivor Series in 2002, the Elimination Chamber has become one of the more popular and destructive matches in the company. The Elimination Chamber pay-per-view is making a return after a year hiatus, and this year’s Chamber match will mark the twentieth time Superstars have stepped into the demonic structure.
In the match’s 15 year history, several marquee names have survived the Chamber Match, won or retained the World title, and went on to headline Wrestlemania.
Superstars like Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena, and Edge have added to their already impressive WWE résumés by outlasting five other guys and winning Chamber matches. The man with the most Elimination Chamber wins is Triple H, who has won the match on four different occasions.
John Cena has a chance to tie this record when he guns for his fourth Chamber victory this week at the Smackdown-exclusive Elimination Chamber PPV.
Let’s take a look at the five best Chamber matches in the history of the company:
#5 No Way Out 2008 (Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy vs. JBL vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Umaga vs. Triple H)
One of the few times a World title wasn’t on the line in a Chamber match, the match at No Way Out in 2008 was for a spot in the main event at Wrestlemania. Jericho and HBK started the match and, for the five-minute period before Umaga entered the match, gave us some outstanding technical wrestling, which is something you don’t see very often in Chamber mathces.
When JBL entered the match after Umaga, the technical wrestling turned into a brawl as the four men beat the heck out of each other. The fifth man in the match was Triple H, who only added to the chaos. Before the sixth and final entrant, Jeff Hardy, could make his way into the match, Y2J hit a Codebreaker on JBL to eliminate “The Wrestling God”.
JBL refused to leave quietly as he grabeed a steel chair and laid out Jericho, Michaels, and Umaga with brutal chair shots to the head. Hardy joined the match and made his impact felt from the beginning, hitting several high impact moves.
Umaga quickly became the target for the other four men left in the match and after a Codebreaker, Sweet Chin Music, a Pedigree, and a Swanton Bomb from the top of a Chamber pod, Jericho pinned Umaga to eliminate “The Samoan Bulldozer”. Jericho was the next to be eliminated after Michaels hit him with Sweet Chin Music and Hardy made the pin.
After several minutes of back and forth action, Michaels was hit with a Twist of Fate by Hardy and with a Pedigree from “The Game” and was eliminated from the match. That left Jeff Hardy and Triple H to battle it out for a spot in the main event at Wrestlemania.
After battling for a little over five minutes, Triple H hit Jeff Hardy with a Pedigree, but “The Charismatic Enigma” kicked out at two. After hitting Jeff with every move in his arsenal, Triple H grabbed a chair to finish the job on Hardy.
However, Hardy countered and attempted to hit Triple H with a Twist of Fate on the chair. When Hardy attempted the move, “The Game” countered into a Pedigree onto the steel chair and covered Hardy for the 1, 2, 3 and a spot in the main event at Wrestlemania XXIV.
#4 Elimination Chamber 2011 (Edge (Champion) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. Wade Barrett vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show)
The World Heavyweight Championship was on the line during SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber PPV in 2011. It was also the perfect blend of current main event Superstars and the future crop of Superstars WWE had to offer at the time.
Not only was the “Rated R Superstar” forced to defend his title against five of the top guys on SmackDown in an Elimination Chamber match, but he also lost the coin toss and was forced to start the match with Rey Mysterio. All six competitors eventually made their way into the match before any eliminations occured.
The last Superstar to enter the match, Big Show, was the one that made an immediate impact, after nailing Barrett with a KO Punch and eliminating him from the match. However, shortly afterwards, Show was eliminated after getting hit with each person’s finisher, followed by a hellacious Chokeslam from “The Demon” Kane.
McIntyre, who also went down for the count after a Chokeslam from Kane, was the next elimination. That left Kane, Edge, and Mysterio left in the Chamber to battle it out for Edge’s World Championship. Mysterio and Edge, teamed up to try and take out “The Big Red Monster”, on realising that he was a force to be reckoned with.
Kane staved off the initial attacks and even took control of the match, but when he caught Mysterio trying his patented Springboard Senton, Edge came out of nowhere to spear Kane, finally eliminating him from the match.
After a long back-and-forth between Edge and Mysterio, Edge hit Mysterio with a spear, but only managed a near fall. Mysterio battled back and hit Edge with the 619 and Springboard Splash, but Edge kicked out at two.
Mysterio hit Edge with another 619, but this time when he went for the Springboard Splash, Edge caught him with a spear in mid-air for the final elimination and to retain his title.
#3 No Way Out 2009 (John Cena (Champion) vs. Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. Mike Knox vs. Chris Jericho)
Probably the most shocking Elimination Chamber match in history, considering what happened before the match even started. Kofi Kingston was scheduled to be in the match, but on his way into the Chamber, Edge came out of nowhere and attacked Kingston.
After hitting him with a Con-Chair-To on the steel steps, Edge jumped into the Chamber and locked himself in Kofi’s pod, replacing Kingston in the match. Jericho and Mysterio started the match, then Kane entered at #3.
Kane was the first person eliminated, after Jericho and Mysterio teamed up to take out “The Big Red Monster”, and went down for the count after a Seated Senton from Mysterio off one of the Chamber pods. Next to enter the match was Mike Knox, who was eliminated before the fifth entrant could even make his way into the match.
Edge would enter the match at number 5 and Cena came in at number six. This led to one of the biggest spots of the match between the five remaining superstars. Cena picked Edge up for an AA, however, Jericho came out of nowhere and hit Cena with a Codebreaker.
After a 619 from Mysterio and a Spear from Edge, the Champ was eliminated from the match, shocking everyone in the arena. Shortly after Cena’s elimination, Jericho was eliminated after Mysterio rolled him up from behind.
That left Edge and Mysterio (sound familiar?) to battle it out to crown a new WWE World Champion. After a short back-and-forth, Edge hit Mysterio with a spear, eliminating him and winning the title in a match he wasn’t even scheduled to be in.
#2 SummerSlam 2003 (Triple H (Champion) vs. Goldberg vs. Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kevin Nash vs. Chris Jericho)
The second Elimination Chamber match in history was one of the most star-studded matches in WWE history. Chris Jericho and The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels started the match and picked up right where they left off a few months before at Wrestlemania XIX.
The third entrant was the then 23-year old Randy Orton, who was in Evolution, a stable led and created by Triple H. Orton, Jericho, and HBK would go back and forth for the next five minutes until Kevin Nash entered the fray as entrant number four.
Big Daddy Cool immediately went to work on his three smaller opponents. As he went for his patented Jackknife Powerbomb on Jericho, Michaels came out of nowhere and hit the big man with Sweet Chin Music.
Jericho would flip over and hook Nash’s leg for the 1, 2, 3, making him the first elimination of the match. “The Game” was the next man out of the Chamber, however, was immediately met with Sweet Chin Music and knocked back into his pod unconscious.
The first three entrants would again battle for a few minutes until Goldberg entered as the sixth and final competitor of the match. Goldberg immediately went to work on the three men who had been in the match for over 10 minutes.
Triple H also came to life as Goldberg was cleaning house and decided to stay in his pod instead of coming out to join the match. After a huge Military Press Spinebuster to Orton and a double clothesline to Jericho and Michaels, Goldberg speared Orton and made him the second elimination of the match.
Jericho quickly attacked Goldberg after the pin but Goldberg would turn the tables, spearing Y2J through one of the pods. HBK would take advantage of Goldberg after that, eventually hitting a huge elbow from the top rope and began tuning up the band to hit Sweet Chin Music.
However, Goldberg ducked the superkick and hit Michaels with a huge spear, picked him up off the mat, hit the Jackhammer, and HBK was eliminated. Jericho rolled into the ring and was met with the same fate as Michaels (spear, jackhammer, elimnation).
That left Goldberg, who was absolutely dominant, and Triple H, who had spent the entire match inside his Chamber pod. Trips refused to come out of the pod to face Goldberg, so Goldberg went to him, spearing the glass around the pod into Triple H, which sent Triple H flying out of the pod on the other side.
As both men tried to collect themselves, Ric Flair, who was managing Triple H, made his way to ringside and handed Trips a sledgehammer. When Goldberg went for another Spear on “The Game”, he was nailed in the back of the head with the sledgehammer and knocked out cold.
Trips rolled him over and made the pin, retaining his World Heavyweight Title and winning his first Elimination Chamber match.
#1 Survivor Series 2002 (Triple H (Champion) vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kane vs. Booker T vs. Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam)
The first ever Elimination Chamber match is widely regarded as the best Chamber match of all time.
The Champ, Triple H, started off the match with Rob Van Dam, who dominated Trips during the first five minutes of the match. Jericho was the next entrant in the match and immediately went after Van Dam. Both Jericho and Trips teamed up on RVD and made several attempts to eliminate him.
They were unable to eliminate RVD before the fourth entrant, Booker T, made his way into the match. Booker T evened the odds for Van Dam and both men would turn the tables on Jericho and “The Game”.
RVD hit a Five-Star Frog Splash on Triple H off a Chamber pod, but was unable to make the pin. When Van Dam finally made his way to his feet, Booker T hit him with a Missile Dropkick and eliminated him from the match.
Shortly after the elimination, Jericho made his way back into the ring. After an intense back and forth between Y2J and Booker T, Kane entered the match as entrant number five and immediately took over.
He decimated Jericho by throwing him through a Chamber pod, momentarily knocking him out of the match. Kane and Booker T continued to battle it out in the ring. Booker took the upper hand after several minutes of back and forth action, and went for his patented Scissors Kick on “The Big Red Machine”.
However, as he was looking to end Kane’s night, Jericho recovered enough to hit Booker with a low blow, which led to Kane hitting a massive chokeslam on Booker. Jericho would make his way back into the ring and hit a Lionsault on Booker to end his night.
Kane instantly turned his focus to Jericho and took back over the match. Triple H finally made his way back into the match but was met with the same fate as Jericho: manhandled by The Big Red Machine. However, the numbers game eventually caught up with Kane and Jericho and Trips took control, until the sixth person entered the match, the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels.
HBK came in like a house on fire and took out all three men. Kane eventually battled back and delivered Chokeslams to every Superstar remaining in the match. When going for a Tombstone on the Champion, Trips slid out of it and pushed Kane into The Sweet Chin Music from HBK.
After a Pedigree from Triple H and a Lionsault from Jericho, Kane was eliminated. Jericho and Triple H then teamed up again, to try and take out Triple H’s biggest rival, Shawn Michaels. After several minutes of back and forth action between the three men, including several signature moves being hit and Triple H and HBK both bleeding profusely from their foreheads, Jericho had “The Game” locked in the Walls of Jericho.
Michaels got back up to his feet and hit Jericho with Sweet Chin Music to eliminate him from the match, leaving the two former best friends to battle it out in WWE’s most sadistic structure for the World Heavyweight Title. For almost ten minutes, HBK and The Game put each other through hell, including Triple H catapulting Michaels through a Chamber pod.
The two eventually made their way back into the ring, where Michaels turned the tide on Triple H, even climbing to the top of a Chamber pod and delivering his patented Elbow Drop off the top. HBK then went to the corner to “tune up the band” to deliver the final blow to Triple H and his title reign.
However, Trips caught Michaels’ foot and countered into a Pedigree. Exhausted from the match, Triple H took too much time to crawl over to HBK and cover him, resulting in Michaels kicking out at two. Furiously, “The Game” picked Shawn up to finish him off with another Pedigree.
However, Michaels countered into a back body drop and hit Trips with Sweet Chin Music to win the first ever Elimination Chamber match and become World Champion for the first time since 1998.
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