Top 5 Elimination Chamber Matches

One of the key things about keeping a themed pay-per-view interesting to the fans is that the matches these wrestlers have need to be exciting enough to keep the fans coming back for more the following year, regardless if the matches become more brutal, shocking and entertaining to the audience.

This is the fundamental reason why many pay-per-views named after a match don’t have much longevity to the WWE Universe. The likes of Fatal 4-Way and Bragging Rights (which was essentially a copy of Survivor Series where Raw and SmackDown would go head to head in a series of matches where the winners would win a trophy and bragging rights), have come and gone since Elimination Chamber became a regular fixture on the pay-per-view, which goes to show that every concept match doesn’t necessarily work as a pay-per-view as well.

The reason why the Elimination Chamber has become a permanent fixture in the last 9 years is that it is simply a destructive and unpredictable match, where wrestlers put their bodies through a match that doesn’t exist anywhere else throughout the year.

This Sunday is no different, as with the exception of another historical night for women’s wrestling, it’ll still be six tag teams fighting each other inside the sadistic structure, in order to becoming WWE’s first ever Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Another reason why this pay-per-view has stood the test of time is due to the quality of the matches it has produced. Whilst it has produced a few unmemorable matches, a small handful of matches have become classics and stand out heads and shoulder from the rest.

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#5 Elimination Chamber 2011, World Heavyweight Championship match - Edge, Big Show, Drew McIntyre, Kane, Rey Mysterio, and Wade Barrett

McIntyre and Kane

While every wrestler helped contribute to making this a solid match, it must be addressed that Edge and Rey Mysterio made this into an instant classic. The match started with the two, and even though the giants of Big Show, Kane, Drew McIntyre and Wade Barrett all made their impact throughout their match, all of them would be swatted away one by one, until the match was down to the same two wrestlers.

Both wrestlers would end up trading finishers and still finding a way to kick out of them. It would ultimately take a spear from Edge in mid-air to Mysterio to keep the belt around Edge’s waist heading into WrestleMania.

However, the victory proved to be bittersweet for Edge, as a few months later, even though he retained the title successfully against Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania XXVII, he would be forced to relinquish his title due to a real life injury that would ultimately end his career. If there was such a thing as a ‘swan song’ in wrestling, then it would be hard to dispute that this match was Edge’s.

#4 No Way Out 2009, WWE Championship match - Triple H, Big Show, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Undertaker, Vladimir Kozlov

Triple H would walk away with the WWE Championship

If the No Way Out 2009 pay-per-view was sending a message to the WWE Universe, then the message was to expect the unexpected. The match began with WWE Champion Edge against Jeff Hardy and after an attempted spear was converted into a small package by Hardy within 3 minutes of the match, the WWE Universe was in shock.

From this elimination, it was clear that the WWE Championship was going to take a complete turn heading into WrestleMania. What made this elimination even more shocking was that it was so quick that the other four wrestlers in this match were still locked up in their pods.

The match ultimately boiled down to two of the best the WWE has ever seen – Triple H and The Undertaker. With Randy Orton winning the Royal Rumble match the previous month and having history with both of these wrestlers in the past, either one of these options would prove to make a solid main event at WrestleMania. However, it would take two pedigrees to set a showdown at The Show of Shows between the two former Evolution members.

#3 No Way Out 2009, World Heavyweight Championship match - Edge, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Kane, Mike Knox, Rey Mysterio

Edge turned a really bad night to a great night when all was said and done

Considering how the first Elimination Chamber match earlier in the night, it would be hard to predict what else was going to happen for the rest of the night. However, the night would prove to be full of more surprises, as the World Heavyweight Championship match should have had Kofi Kingston in the mix but an irate Edge who lost his WWE Championship earlier in the night kept Kingston from ever entering the ring and took his place by locking himself in a pod.

However, the unpredictability of the night didn’t end there as John Cena, (who had featured in one of the primary Championship matches in the last 4 consecutive WrestleManias), was eliminated within a few minutes from entering the match, due to Jericho, Mysterio and Edge all delivering their finishers to Cena.

It came down to Edge against Mysterio, and even though he battled valiantly, Edge delivered one more shock to the WWE Universe that night by walking away with the World Heavyweight Championship.

#2 Elimination Chamber 2017, WWE Championship match - Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose, John Cena, The Miz

Wyatt stands tall winning his first WWE Championship in his first Elimination Chamber match

Many of the Elimination Chamber pay-per-views so far has usually had two matches of the namesake pay-per-view. However, the 2017 edition only had one match of its kind, where the winner would walk away with the coveted WWE Championship. However, in this particular instance, less really is more, as this match proved to be one of the most memorable ones to date.

On paper, this looked as if John Cena was going to walk away as the likely winner, considering four of the wrestlers had never been in an Elimination Chamber match before, and The Miz had never won from his prior two appearances.

However, the determination and stamina made for the lack of experience, as it took nearly 20 minutes and all six entrants to enter before someone was eliminated.

The match ultimately came down to AJ Styles and Bray Wyatt, where a phenomenal forearm from Styles was converted in a Sister Abigail, making the Eater of Worlds win his maiden WWE Championship.

#1 Survivor Series 2002, World Heavyweight Championship match - Shawn Michaels, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Kane, Rob Van Dam, Triple H

Shawn Michaels is known as 'The Showstopper' for a reason

In its 32 year history, only two Survivor Series pay-per-view events have not featured a traditional Survivor Series match. The first one was 1998, which was predominately focused on a tournament for the vacant then-known WWF Championship, and even though there was a similar variation with an Elimination Tables match, the second one was in 2002.

However, for what this pay-per-view was missing, they made up for it by introducing the first-ever Elimination Chamber match. When WWE introduces a new concept match, it usually needs to be well-received by the WWE Universe in order to sustain its longevity. It was evident the WWE didn’t take any chances with this match, as it was stacked with talent including the likes of Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho.

Whilst the match ultimately boiled down to a rivalry that started in SummerSlam between Triple H and Shawn Michaels, the end result paled in comparison to what the match actually delivered. The WWE had another concept match that proved to be popular yet also hellacious to the WWE Universe such as the Hell in a Cell match, and also being able to use plexi-glass to your advantage.

With over 20 matches to this date (and counting) and a pay-per-view named after the match, it is safe to confirm that this match has a permanent home in the WWE, and this match was the catalyst that started it.