As the road to WrestleMania 38 moves rapidly forward, a pitstop in Saudi Arabia will see the next two instalments of the Elimination Chamber match presented, marking the steel structure’s first time outwith the United States (Puerto Rican natives are considered US residents, hence why the 2005 match in San Juan isn’t deemed the first).
Over the years, countless WWE Superstars, legends, and Hall of Famers have stepped foot into the ever-terrifying Chamber, often leaving both physically and mentally scarred. The prize up for grabs typically changes from a championship opportunity (as Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Doudrop, Nikki A.S.H, Liv Morgan, and Alexa Bliss will contend for on Saturday) or an actual championship (current WWE Champion Bobby Lashley defends against Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, Austin Theory, Seth “Freakin” Rollins, and Riddle in the night’s second Chamber match).
But what about the records, the history, and the statistics behind the match? Given that WWE has produced at least one Elimination Chamber match annually since 2002 (sans 2004, 2007, and 2016), there is a significant backlog of information on the match. For example, twelve of the twenty-three of the sole-branded Chamber matches (including the 2022 offerings) have been strictly for Raw Superstars.
What other records are hidden beyond the chainlink walls?
The Reign Of Terror
Triple H, a man with six Elimination Chamber appearances to his name, has been victorious in two-thirds of his Chamber experiences, winning four throughout his WWE career.
It didn’t start off too well for ‘The Game’, as he dropped the World Heavyweight Championship in the inaugural Elimination Chamber match to legendary tag team partner and, at the time, rival Shawn Michaels, being the last man eliminated as ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ struck gold.
In his subsequent two appearances, though, Hunter scored two of his four wins in a row, winning both the SummerSlam 2003 and New Year’s Revolution 2005 Chambers to both retain and then win the aforementioned World Heavyweight Championship, with the title being vacant prior to the latter match. He would again score two wins in a row over the 2008 and 2009 No Way Out pay-per-views, earning a WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV in 2008, and capturing the WWE Championship from Edge the year after.
Much like in his other loss inside the Chamber, Triple H’s final appearance in the match saw him as the final man eliminated from the WWE Championship Chamber match at the inaugural Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in 2010 as he submitted to John Cena’s STF. In this instance, Sheamus was the defending WWE Champion.
Doing The Job
The Elimination Chamber match would be nothing without people being eliminated. It’s literally there in the name. Current NXT 2.0 commentator Wade Barrett knows about this all too well, however, having entered three Chamber bouts throughout his career without ever achieving a single feat. He never won, hence his inclusion here, but he also never eliminated anyone either. The former Intercontinental Champion was only there to fill a spot.
Barrett, then the leader of The Corre, entered his first Chamber in February 2011 at the eponymous pay-per-view, appearing alongside Rey Mysterio, Kane, The Big Show, Drew McIntyre, and the defending World Heavyweight Champion Edge. He was the first pod entrant, following Mysterio and Edge starting the match officially, but a WMD punch from the now-Paul Wight ended his championship pursuits before they really began.
The year after, again at the Chamber pay-per-view, Barrett would be one of five challengers to Daniel Bryan’s World Heavyweight Championship – the other four being The Big Show (who started the match with him), The Great Khali, Cody Rhodes, and most surprisingly, Santino Marella. It would, however, be Marella who sent Barrett packing from the Chamber, though it came directly after a Flying Goat diving headbutt from the defending champion. He was the fourth man eliminated from the contest.
Lastly, under the King Barrett alias, the Preston, England native entered an Elimination Chamber match in 2015 for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, which had been left vacant in lieu of Daniel Bryan stepping away due to injury. Competing alongside Ryback, Dolph Ziggler (who started the match with Barrett), Mark Henry, R-Truth, and Sheamus, Barrett would be the first man eliminated after receiving a Superkick from Ziggler, a Snake Eyes from Ryback, and lastly, a Lie Detector from Truth.
Chamber Veterans
Until 2021, Chris Jericho held the record for the most appearances in Elimination Chamber matches, with eight appearances inside the structure, beginning with the very first instalment of the bout back at the 2002 Survivor Series pay-per-view. It was only last year that Randy Orton tied him for most appearances. “The Viper” made his first appearance inside the structure in 2003, challenging for Triple H’s World Heavwyeight Championship.
Jericho and Orton have shared the Elimination Chamber ring in three separate matches; the first of those came in Orton’s Chamber debut at the 2003 SummerSlam pay-per-view. Following this, they again shared the ring at 2005’s New Year’s Revolution event, fighting for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship, before colliding eight years later at the 2013 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. There, they were fighting over who’d challenge World Heavyweight Champion, Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania 29.
For the future “Le Champion”, his other five outings in the Chamber came at the aforementioned Survivor Series 2002, No Way Out 2008, No Way Out 2009, Elimination Chamber 2010, where he dethroned The Undertaker of the World Heavwyeight Championship, and Elimination Chamber 2012.
As for Orton, he also entered the Chamber at Elimination Chamber 2010, Elimination Chamber 2011, Elimination Chamber 2014, where he made a successful defence of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Elimination Chamber 2019, and Elimination Chamber 2021.
(Un)Luck Of The Draw
Speaking of Chris Jericho, although he’s entered eight Elimination Chamber matches, he was either the first or second entrant in five of those contests.
At SummerSlam 2003, New Year’s Revolution 2005, No Way Out 2008, No Way Out 2009, and Elimination Chamber 2013, the nine-time Intercontinental Champion would begin the match in the ring rather than in a pod. Joining him as the match’s inaugural entrants were Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels again, Rey Mysterio, and Daniel Bryan, respectively.
It was only at Survivor Series 2002, Elimination Chamber 2010, and Elimination Chamber 2012 that Jericho was given a pod, though it didn’t help him much in 2002 as he was the first to enter, making him the match’s third official entrant. In 2010, the year he won his third World Heavyweight Championship, Jericho was second out of the pods, while in 2012, “Y2J” entered the match as the sixth and final entrant.
It didn’t matter too much, though, as despite eliminating both Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler from that bout, Jericho would seemingly be prematurely eliminated after taking a roundhouse kick from the eventual winner – and defending WWE Champion – CM Punk that sent him crashing out of the unlocked Chamber door.
They Better Reinforce The Ring
The Elimination Chamber match is known for being one of the toughest matches to fight in, hence why, in the match’s earlier history, it was largely dominated by big bruisers but the 2008 and 2009 No Way Out pay-per-views take the cake for two rather unique Chamber records. They, respectively, contested the heaviest and the tallest lineups in Elimination Chamber history.
In 2008’s World Heavyweight Championship number one contendership Chamber, the lineup of The Undertaker, Batista, The Great Khali, Big Daddy V, Finlay, and MVP made for a combined total of over one thousand, nine hundred pounds. While Finlay and MVP let the rest of their competitors down with their regular sizing, both ‘Taker and Batista weighed in at close to three hundred pounds, whereas The Great Khali was just under four hundred pounds, and Big Daddy V topped the scales at nearly five hundred pounds.
The following year, the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match saw an equally as large combination of The Undertaker, The Big Show, Vladimir Kozlov, Triple H, Edge, and Jeff Hardy. Here, Undertaker stood at six foot, ten inches, while the now-Paul Wight was a colossal seven foot. Kozlov, meanwhile, was bang in the middle of the pair at six foot, eight inches. Add in the six foot, four inches of Triple H, the six foot, one inch of Jeff Hardy, and the six foot, five inches of Edge, and you’ve got the makings of a solid lineup.
One And Done
Prior to the 2022 Elimination Chamber event in Saudi Arabia, there have been a combined seventy-nine WWE Superstars who have stepped into the Chamber, but forty-nine of them only ever did so once. That’s an impressive 62.03% of the match’s total entrant list.
Of that list, some of the more surprising inclusions include Goldberg, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe, Bray Wyatt, and the current WWE Champion, Bobby Lashley. Intriguingly, Elimination Chamber 2018’s second encounter saw over half of the match’s lineup qualify for this record, as Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Elias, and Finn Balor all have one Chamber appearance to their name. John Cena has competed in seven instalments of the bout, while The Miz has entered four Chambers thus far.
Other one-timers include John Bradshaw Layfield, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, and the majority of the lineup for both tag team Elimination Chamber matches; that in itself encompasses the likes of The Prime Time Players, The Ascension, Heavy Machinery, and The IIconics.
Heading into the 2022 Elimination Chamber matches, there will be seven Superstars making their Chamber debut; Brock Lesnar, Austin Theory, and Riddle in the WWE Championship match, and Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Doudrop, and Nikki A.S.H inside the Raw Women’s Championship number one contendership match.
The World Heavyweight Championship Curse
Across its (thus far) twenty-eight match history, there have been a combined ten championship changes within Elimination Chamber matches. The World Heavyweight Championship accounts for four of these changes, with four new champions being crowned in eight defences of the title inside the Chamber, if you include Randy Orton’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship defence in 2014.
It began with Shawn Michaels capturing the title from Triple H in the inaugural instalment of the match at Survivor Series 2002, ending the seventy-six-day reign of “The Game”. A few years later, at New Year’s Revolution 2005, Triple H would regain the title, which had been declared vacant a few weeks prior after he went to draw during a championship defence against Chris Benoit and Edge.
No Way Out 2009 would mark the third World Heavyweight Championship title change, as Edge – competing in his second Chamber match of the night – dethroned John Cena, thus ending his reign at eighty-four days. The next year, at the inaugural Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Chris Jericho became the new World Heavyweight Champion, in turn ending The Undertaker’s third run with the title at one hundred and forty days.
For what it’s worth, the other six title changes inside the Elimination Chamber include three for the WWE Championship (No Way Out 2009, Elimination Chamber 2010, and Elimination Chamber 2017), one for the ECW World Championship (December To Dismember 2006), one for the Intercontinental Championship (Elimination Chamber 2015), and one for the Women’s Tag Team Championships (Elimination Chamber 2019, where the inaugural champions were crowned).
You’re Out!
Though it’s by no means a huge amount, given that the match has featured seventy-nine individual entrants in total, there have been seven instances of when an announced Elimination Chamber entrant was replaced in the match, for one reason or another.
This began when Sabu was replaced by Hardcore Holly in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match in December 2006, with Holly having instigated a backstage beatdown of the ECW icon to take his place in the contest. Though Paul Heyman, longterm ECW booker, is said to have expressed disinterest in the segment, pushing for Sabu’s high-flying style to be showcased inside the Chamber, the call was made by Vince McMahon anyway.
Other instances include The Big Show replacing Dolph Ziggler in 2011’s World Heavyweight Championship match, owing to him being (kayfabe) fired, Santino Marella winning a Battle Royal to replace Randy Orton in the following year’s World Heavyweight Championship encounter (this one also saw The Great Khali replace Mark Henry, who was, in storyline, suspended), and Henry replacing Rusev in 2015’s encounter for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. The now-Miro had suffered a broken foot prior to the bout.
The two most famous occurrences, however, involved Kofi Kingston. The New Day member was ambushed mid-entrance by Edge during No Way Out 2009, with “The Rated R Superstar” now in pursuit of the World Heavyweight Championship after dropping the WWE Championship in quick fashion the same night. Most recently, Kingston replaced an injured Mustafa Ali in 2019’s WWE Championship Elimination Chamber, which, of course, spurred on the KofiMania movement ahead of Kofi’s monumental title victory.
Wasting No Time
Due to the nature of them – the eliminations, the staggered entrances etc – Elimination Chamber matches can typically take up quite a large chunk of time. For example, the inaugural encounter at Survivor Series 2002 lasted 39:20. In 2018, the aforementioned seven-man Chamber match went over 40 minutes in length.
At SummerSlam 2003, however, no time was wasted as the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match failed to last even 20 minutes. It clocks in at just 19:12, being the so far only Chamber match to do so. This also means that it wasn’t even the longest match on that particular card; Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar hold that accolade, with their WWE Championship encounter going 21:18.
Of course, a key reason for the match’s surprisingly short length is that Goldberg eliminated three of the five other combatants in the match within the space of just over three minutes. Following on from Chris Jericho eliminating Kevin Nash, “Da Man” would send Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, and Jericho packing from the Chamber in three minutes, two seconds. He’d last just another three minutes along with the match’s eventual winner, Triple H.
For what it’s worth, only four other Elimination Chamber matches went under 25 minutes; the women’s Chamber at Elimination Chamber 2020 (21 minutes), the Tag Team Championships encounter at Elimination Chamber 2015 (23:40), the WWE Championship opportunity Chamber at No Way Out 2009 (23:54), and the ECW World Championship bout at December To Dismember 2006 (24:42)
Queen Of Spades Runs Rampant
At the 2020 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Shayna Baszler, in her first appearance inside the structure, eliminated 100% of the field en-route to challenging Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at the impending WrestleMania 36 event just a few weeks later.
Entering the match fourth, the former two-time NXT Women’s Champion eliminated, in order, Sarah Logan, Ruby Riott, Natalya, Liv Morgan, and Asuka, all of which came by either a straight-forward submission or a technical submission, wherein the opponent passed out rather than submitted. What’s perhaps even more impressive is that the first three of those eliminations all came within the span of two minutes.
Only four others have even come close to Shayna’s impressive record. Goldberg, Carlito, and The Undertaker all eliminated three men at SummerSlam 2003 (Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, and Chris Jericho), New Year’s Revolution 2006 (Kane, Shawn Michaels, and Chris Masters), and No Way Out 2008 (The Great Khali, Finlay, and Batista). At Elimination Chamber 2018, Braun Strowman eliminated five of his six fellow combatants before succumbing to Roman Reigns.
Simply going by the numbers, Strowman did technically eliminate the same amount of competitors as Baszler did, but due to the 2018 outing having a record seven entrants, his total only amounts to 83.33% of the total eliminations. Still, it’s an impressive footnote on the WWE career of ‘The Monster Among Men’.
WWE Elimination Chamber airs live on Peacock in the United States and on the WWE Network everywhere else, beginning at 5pm GMT.