There have been 22 Elimination Chamber matches in WWE’s history, dating back to the inaugural match in Survivor Series in 2002. There have been bad matches, there have been okay matches, and there have been bad matches. That said, there are clearly a set of Elimination Chamber matches that separate itself from the rest of the pack. With two historic Elimination Chamber matches on tap for tomorrow night, with the first ever Elimination Chamber match with 7 participants and the first-ever women’s Elimination Chamber match, there is a potential for new history to be made. That said, here is the list of what I believe to be the top 10 Elimination Chamber matches in the history of the stipulation. I’ve included links for all of you to watch for your reminiscing pleasure.
10. No Way Out 2008: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Triple H vs. Umaga vs. JBL vs. Jeff Hardy – WWE Championship #1 Contender’s Elimination Chamber Match
On the Road to WrestleMania, one of the more traditional stops in recent memory has been the Elimination Chamber match, and the No Way Out PPV for a couple of years was chosen as the inaugural pre-WrestleMania PPV to host the Elimination Chamber match, giving superstars one final chance to main event WrestleMania as world champion. In 2008, Randy Orton was WWE Champion and 6 of RAW’s top stars competed for the right to face Orton and Cena in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 24.
While the winner of the match was pretty obvious, the action leading up to that point was very well done. The match started out with Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho, which would prove to be a bit of foreshadowing of what would be the best feud of 2008. RAW’s equivalent of Samoa Joe 10 years ago, Umaga, was able to showcase some freakish athleticism. Jeff Hardy used his high-flying ingenuity and resiliency to get him to last to the final two. Jericho was also able to get two eliminations in the match, showing crafty veteran instincts and Triple H used his experience in the Chamber match to his advantage. JBL also made his presence felt in the match as a quick elimination led him to get a chair and headshot everybody in sight. The reason why this is so low on the list is that of the rapid-fire eliminations which are a pet peeve of mine. Otherwise, it was a solid effort all around. Triple H would end up winning after needing two Pedigrees to put away Jeff Hardy, and he would lose at WrestleMania 24 in the triple threat match with Cena and Orton.
9. Elimination Chamber 2013: Mark Henry vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane vs. Randy Orton vs. Jack Swagger vs. Chris Jericho – World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender’s Match
With the WWE Championship title picture crowded with CM Punk, John Cena, and The Rock, WWE chose to host an Elimination Chamber match to decide who the number 1 contender for Alberto Del Rio’s World Heavyweight Championship would be. The match featured Mark Henry, who had recently returned and looked to re-insert himself into the world title picture, the WWE Tag Team Champions in Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) who were one of the hotter acts of the time, the seasoned and experienced veteran Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and a repackaged Jack Swagger. Each man was able to bring something to the table in this match and I believe that is what was able to carry the match along as it went over half an hour. WWE continued to play up the tension between Kane and Daniel Bryan in the match, as they not only worked together in the match, but they also ended up turning on each other. Because of this dissension, Mark Henry was able to take advantage and eliminate both of them in succession. Jericho was also able to carry himself along as well, carrying his experience and veteran wit into this match to help eliminate Mark at the hands of an RKO from Randy Orton.
The ending sequence with Jericho and Orton trading moves was fantastic stuff, and Orton was able to get the better of Jericho, but in great heel fashion, Jack Swagger remained alert and quickly rolled up Orton from behind to punch his ticket into WrestleMania in a genius finish that didn’t needlessly play things out. Unfortunately for Swagger, this win wouldn’t mean much, as he would end up losing to Alberto in a forgettable outing at WrestleMania, with the crowd more interested in whether or not Ziggler would cash in MITB after the match. His push also didn’t land him anywhere except being 2nd fiddle to Cesaro in The Real Americans.
8. Elimination Chamber 2010: Undertaker (C) vs. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio vs. R-Truth vs. John Morrison vs. CM Punk – World Heavyweight Championship
The dynamic was kind of interesting here if you really look at it. The Undertaker was the only real powerhouse in the match while everybody else was high-flying, technical wrestlers. Back in 2010, The Undertaker was bound to face Shawn Michaels in a rematch from WrestleMania 25, so while I’m sure that he was going to play in the finish, it would be interesting how WWE would have him interfere. This match was also infamous for WWE badly botching Undertaker’s opening pyro, as he damn near burnt himself to a crisp. The Undertaker had to quickly take off his robe and dust himself off, and instead of still playing it cool, making his traditional slow, methodical walk to the ring, he had an untraditional pep in his step. The funniest thing about all of this is how the announcers quickly rebounded.
The actual match was pretty well done. CM Punk was still doing his Straight Edge, no-shave gimmick and was able to get a pretty quick elimination on R-Truth, who was pretty much only there to be fed to somebody more prominent in the match. Rey Mysterio got a rather quick elimination on CM Punk, which would help facilitate their match at WrestleMania 26, but with this being only Rey’s 2nd Elimination Chamber match, he quickly adapted to the confined space and used it to fly all over the place. However, he was joined by another high-flyer in John Morrison, who many called the MVP of this match because of his unique style in the ring and carrying the triple threat dynamic with Jericho and Undertaker along. The final sequence with Jericho and Undertaker was very well done, and as we all see, HBK snuck up from underneath the Chamber and cost The Undertaker the World Title. From this sequence, this would not only lead to Undertaker and Shawn having their highly anticipated WrestleMania rematch, but Chris Jericho would end up defending the World Heavyweight Championship against the Royal Rumble winner of that year, Edge.
7. Elimination Chamber 2014: Randy Orton (C) vs. John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro vs. Sheamus vs. Christian – WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Despite this Elimination Chamber match having the most outside interference ever (which kind of defeats the purpose of the Elimination Chamber), the actual match carried along a great pace. Now, everyone was anticipating Daniel Bryan to win the Elimination Chamber, especially when it came down to him and Orton, but once Kane inserted himself into the fray, it was pretty obvious that Orton would be retaining. Seeing as how Daniel winning at WrestleMania 30 would prove to be a much a better moment, saving the win for that event as opposed to wasting it here made the wait well worth it. No one else except for Orton and Bryan really had a chance here. WWE built up this match by having Orton face each of the other five participants. Cena, Bryan, and Cesaro pinned him, while Sheamus beat him by DQ and Christian ended up being the only one not to beat Orton before the Chamber.
Looking at this match in hindsight, I really think Daniel Bryan and Cesaro were the standouts in this match. It feels like an eternity since we’ve seen Daniel Bryan in a WWE ring, we kind of forget how special he was. He would have one guy in a submission hold while pinning someone else consecutively and Cesaro showed off his absolutely overpowering strength. Sheamus also showcased the physicality that has become his greatest asset. Meanwhile, Orton was more of a scavenger in the match, looking to pick off remains and relying on untimely interference from The Wyatt Family to eliminate Cena and Kane cheap shotting Daniel to win the match. Again, while the interference in this match was plenty, make no mistake about it. This match was very well done.
6. No Way Out 2009: Edge (C) vs. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov vs. Undertaker vs. The Big Show – WWE Championship
I can’t remember the last time The Undertaker looked as nimble as he did here in this Elimination Chamber match. He was flying off the top rope, doing Last Rides to everybody and the whole nine yards. Edge had to defend his WWE Championship against some of the top stars in the entire company, and knowing Edge, it wasn’t likely that he was going to get past all of these superstars. This would be proven correct, as Edge would be the first guy eliminated in the match by a cradle from Jeff Hardy. However, it would be shown that his night wouldn’t be over, so his elimination was done with good reason. However, I thought that this particular match was carried by The Undertaker and Triple H holding things along.
At this point, Triple H had competed in four Elimination Chamber matches and won three of them, so while it was inconceivable that The Undertaker could lose, Triple H winning would help build to his match with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 25. Meanwhile, The Undertaker was able to adapt to everyone else’s style or change it when needed. If he needed power, he would use it to eliminate the likes of Kozlov, who had actually already beaten him on an edition of Smackdown. If he needed to be a bit more nimble to take down the likes of The Big Show, he’d do it. And if he needed to think outside the box to do his patented Tombstone Piledriver reversal from the ropes in the Chamber match to eliminate Jeff Hardy, he’d do that too. It just goes to show what a far cry of a performer that Undertaker was at one point.
The Big Show played his role as a big powerhouse well, with Undertaker, Hardy and Triple H needing a trio of huge moves to do away with him. Jeff Hardy was Jeff Hardy as per usual. The ending sequence with Triple H and Undertaker was also reminiscent of some of the sequences they’d have in their series of WrestleMania matches in the years to come. While I hated that Triple H was allowed to use a rope break in a Chamber match (I never understood that), it was still an entertaining finish. Triple H would go on to beat Randy Orton in one of the worst WrestleMania main events ever.
5. Elimination Chamber 2017: John Cena (C) vs. AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin vs. Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz – WWE Championship
No one in this match except Bray Wyatt had a chance. As soon as Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble match, it should have been obvious who he was facing in this match. Orton played up the fact that his obedience to Bray wouldn’t allow him to face him at WrestleMania for the title, even though any wrestling fan with half a functioning brain cell knew that from the start. Bray had been the butt of every joke for many years, and 2017 was looking to be his coming out party. At least before WrestleMania. This particular Elimination Chamber match also debuted a new style of match, removing the chained padding on the bottom of the mat. While I initially wasn’t a fan of it because it ruined what the Elimination Chamber match was supposed to be, it didn’t hurt the match at all.
Cena and Styles, who had an incredible outing at the Royal Rumble PPV a month prior began the match and did their amazing stuff as usual. Then, Dean Ambrose entered the fray, and the trio of Cena, Ambrose, and Styles did some callbacks to their triple threat match at No Mercy the previous year which carried things along nicely. Baron Corbin didn’t get to do much except gain some novice experience in a high profile match as he succumbed to the almighty roll-up finish. The Miz took advantage of a post-match Corbin assault and was able to bring Ambrose out of the fray. In a preview of their WrestleMania match last year, Cena was also able to get rid of The Miz, leaving the final 3 of Styles, Cena, and Wyatt to face off. This also gave us the opportunity to see AJ Styles and Bray Wyatt for the first time together in an interesting dynamic.
In something vaguely resembling Seth Rollins’ performance this past Monday, Bray ended up pinning John Cena and AJ Styles cleanly consecutively to win the WWE Championship in a moment many fans waited for so long to see. As we clearly saw, Wyatt’s title reign was a joke, as he lost to Randy Orton at WrestleMania 33 in a title match that more resembled a 3rd grader’s science fair project gone awry.
4. Elimination Chamber 2011 – Edge (C) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Wade Barrett vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Kane vs. The Big Show – World Heavyweight Championship
This Elimination Chamber match featured some of the fresh blood of Smackdown involving Wade Barrett and Drew McIntyre, two men that were supposed to be huge plans of WWE’s immediate future. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. Edge won the World Heavyweight Championship back from Dolph Ziggler and was set to defend it against some of the top stars of the blue brand. Edge and Rey Mysterio have a long history together, as partners and as adversaries, and they began and ended this match as the first and final two Elimination Chamber match participants. Edge and Rey were the two MVP’s of this match, and their chemistry with each other was unfathomed as they had a war to end this match. Trading finishers, near-falls and in a match environment with important stakes, they all laid it out there.
Kane and The Big Show were there to provide some veteran experience, and while Kane played a part in the finish, the two of them weren’t really anything special in the match. However, the two young guns were able to make something of themselves in a short capacity, which was good to see. This match should probably be remembered most for being Edge’s last great performance in WWE. He’d go on to face Alberto Del Rio in a solid match at WrestleMania, but it was also the first match of the night and completely forgettable. If you want to know what made Edge special, you can watch this match as he was on his last two legs.
3. No Way Out 2009 – John Cena (C) vs. Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. Mike Knox vs. Chris Jericho – World Heavyweight Championship
Remember what I said about Edge’s night at No Way Out 2009 not being finished? Well, Kofi Kingston was originally slated to be in this match, but Edge, still frustrated from his short stint in the first chamber match forced his way into this match by laying out Kofi Kingston with a chair to the skull on the steel steps, ruining Kofi’s first Chamber experience, but giving Edge, the Ultimate Opportunist, an opportunity to leave the night with championship gold. Jericho and Mysterio had one of the best rivalries of 2009, and they started off the match together with their great series of reversal sequences and the like. Big men like Mike Knox and Kane sadly only slowed down the pace of the match and didn’t add anything of value to the match. Fortunately, once guys such as Edge entered the match, the pace picked up once again. Rey played up the anger of seeing his friend in Kofi getting ambushed by ruthlessly attacking Edge before he was able to escape his own Chamber.
However, the real surprise of this match was arguably John Cena’s rapid-fire Elimination. He didn’t really do anything and by my count spent a little less than 5 minutes in the match. Cena was going for an AA on Edge, but he took a Codebreaker from Jericho, a 619 and a spear from Edge in succession, eliminating him from the match in short order to a huge pop from the crowd. Once Rey was able to get the better of Jericho, the match, just like it would two years later, came down to Edge and Mysterio once again, and these two knocked it out of the park….once again. Everything was capitalized by Edge reversing Rey’s momentum by sending him face first into the Chamber and finishing it off with a spear to do the improbable and enter No Way Out as WWE Champion and leave as World Heavyweight Champion. He’d become the only superstar in WWE history to compete in two Elimination Chamber matches on the same night. He’d go on to WrestleMania and would face Cena and The Big Show in a triple threat match, in which Cena got his title back.
2. New Year’s Revolution 2005 – Triple H vs. Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit vs. Edge vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton – World Heavyweight Championship
Had it not been for this chamber match, New Year’s Revolution 2005 would have gone down as the worst PPV in WWE history, with a laughably pathetic undercard with little quality and poor wrestling. Standing to date as arguably the most star-studded Elimination Chamber match with Shawn Michaels as special guest referee to boot, this match took place as a result of World Heavyweight Championship controversy that lasted a while. Triple H faced Edge and Chris Benoit in a triple threat match, a match that saw Edge pin Benoit and Benoit tap out Edge simultaneously. Eric Bischoff chose to vacate the title and instead have six of RAW’s top superstar compete for the top prize in the company at the time, the World Heavyweight Championship.
What I keep telling people about this match that I loved is that there was a trio of styles that complimented each other greatly. You had two technical standouts in Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, two athletic mat wrestlers in Edge and Randy Orton and two powerhouses in Triple H and Batista. The big story coming into the match was Batista’s entry in the match and what he would do if he were to get Triple H all to himself. WWE had been teasing Batista wanting the World Heavyweight Championship for himself but still insisting on defending Triple H from any threat. In the chamber match, we had plenty of blood, plenty of controversies, plenty of storytelling and plenty of exciting action. Batista looked like a monster, taking out Benoit and Jericho like they were nothing. They also played up the tension, by not only having Batista save Triple H from a double submission from Jericho and Benoit, but by also having Batista standing face to face with a bloodied Triple H. Jim Ross yelled at Batista, asking what’s he going to do now that he has the chance to do what he’s wanted for a while.
We also had Randy Orton look strong in this match, getting Triple H to himself, but needing Batista and Flair to interfere on Triple H’s behalf just to get by him. We also had another storyline introduced with Edge and Shawn Michaels in a feud that would go on to the Royal Rumble. Triple H ended up winning and surviving, but this would lead to the obvious matchup between Batista and Hunter, that would end with Batista winning his first ever World Title.
1. Survivor Series 2002: Triple H (C) vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Booker T – World Heavyweight Championship
I guess you could say there are certain things that can’t beat the original. No match had the amount of storytelling, emotion and grasped the concept of an Elimination Chamber match better than this one. In order to decide the World Heavyweight Champion, Eric Bischoff announced this new match that would feature a match that had two miles of chain, steel-linked fences, Chambers with plexiglass and something that came straight out of hell. Now for all of the flack Triple H gets, if there’s one thing that can’t be mistaken about him, it’s his toughness. Do you realize that Rob Van Dam damn near killed Triple H in this match? Rob Van Dam went up from the top of the chamber and went for the Five Star Frog Splash. However, he didn’t have space to fully contract his body, so he his knees remained slightly tucked. Instead of RVD’s stomach landing on Triple H’s stomach, RVD’s knee ended up landing straight on Triple H’s throat. With all of the momentum from RVD on the top rope landing on Triple H’s throat, he immediately collapsed. Triple H’s throat became heavily swollen after the match, it was rumored that his trachea might have been broken, and his had trouble breathing.
Triple H somehow managed to fight it out and continue to see the match to its finish, which remains one of the greatest finishes in the history of the Chamber match. Sadly, one thing that slightly hurt this match was the fact that this was coming down to Triple H and Shawn Michaels. All of the other four were merely fodder because they needed six men. Despite that, all of the other four men made an impact when they did manage to come in. Chris Jericho was also highly valuable in this match as he managed to keep pace with Shawn and Triple H. He also had Triple H in the Walls of Jericho and it appeared he was going to tap until Shawn came in and kicked him square in the face. The ending saw Shawn take Triple H’s best shots but he couldn’t put him away.
In the middle of Madison Square Garden, Shawn back body dropped Triple H, kicked him in the face as well and won the World Championship. While the reign wasn’t anything impressive, the victory was a good chapter in their rivalry. This entire Chamber match set the precedent for the matches that came afterward, and I don’t think a Chamber match was able to match what the original edition laid out before them.
So, guys, what was your favorite chamber match. Did I miss one? Let me know. Until next time.
