The Elimination Chamber is a match type in professional wrestling (seen in World Wrestling Entertainment). It is a variation of the steel cage and Hell in a Cell matches, in that the ring is surrounded by a steel structure of chain and girders, but instead of a standard steel cage, the Elimination Chamber is circular, allowing for four inner chambers (or 'pods') to be placed on the apron with platforms keeping the wrestlers from the floor. The metal is black and the chambers are made of 'bulletproof' glass. The chamber is 36 feet in diameter and is composed of 10 tons of steel and 2 miles of chain.
The match is contested by six wrestlers, two beginning the match in the ring and the other four in the glass chambers. After a predetermined amount of time (three, four or five minutes) a chamber opens at random and a wrestler is added to the two already competing, and this continues until all men are released. Wrestlers are eliminated by pinfall or submission, often leading to some being eliminated before every wrestler is released into the match. The winner is the final man left after all others have been eliminated.
So far, there is no provision as to what may happen if a competitor escapes the Chamber without being eliminated, although noncompetitors and recently eliminated competitors have interfered on behalf of one of the remaining competitors.
Because of the logistics of the Chamber's design, no other enclosure-based match is typically scheduled on the same card as the Elimination Chamber, and the Elimination Chamber itself has not been used for any match other than the one prescribed above.
Former RAW general manager Eric Bischoff was given on-screen credit for creating the match in the fall of 2002, stating it combines elements of WWE's Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and WCW'sWar Games matches, in that the countdown timer comes from the Rumble and War Games, the enclosed cage format from War Games, and the elimination process from the Rumble and Series.
To date, 19 Chamber matches have been held, the first two having moments where the bulletproof chamber glass was shattered during an attack, and the order of entry to the ring matches the random release of the wrestlers into the match in those first two as well. Triple H entered both of the first two Elimination Chamber matches as reigning World Heavyweight Champion and was involved in the final pinfall of the first three, losing the first and winning the second and third. The fourth match on January 8, 2006 was the first to be held with the WWE Championship on the line. The fifth match on December 3, 2006 was the first to be held with the ECW World Championship on the line.
The fifth match, held at the ECWpay-per-viewDecember to Dismember, was a slight variation called the 'Extreme Elimination Chamber'. In this variation of the match, each 'pod' in the Chamber would have one of four weapons for the competitors locked inside to hold on to. When each competitor's chamber opened, their weapon entered the match along with them. The four weapons used in the match were a crowbar, a table, a steel chair, and a barbed wire baseball bat.
The fifth Elimination Chamber match, dubbed the first-ever "Extreme Elimination Chamber" match, took place on December 3, 2006 at December to Dismember 2006 in Augusta, Georgia. This is the first Elimination Chamber match not hosted by the RAW brand (the first two Elimination Chamber matches were held at joint production pay-per-view events, Survivor Series 2002 and SummerSlam 2003 respectively, but were held only for RAW wrestlers to compete in; the other two Elimination Chamber matches were both held at WWE New Year's Revolution, a RAW-exclusive pay-per-view). The match was The Big Show (c) vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Hardcore Holly vs. CM Punk vs. Test vs. Bobby Lashley for the ECW World Championship. Sabu was promoted as a participant prior to the match, but was found unconscious in the back (kayfabe) during the event and replaced by Holly. Each wrestler (excluding the starting two) wielded a weapon that was locked inside the Chamber's "pod" with them. Lashley last pinned Big Show to win the championship.
Edge walked in as champion in the Smackdown Elimination Chamber Match above, but was eliminated first within 3 minutes by Jeff Hardy. But because of his wife, Vickie Guerrero being the General Manager of Raw, he entered the match in place of Kofi Kingston by hitting him with a steel chair on his head, injuring him and entering his chamber.
Shawn Michaels' title win in the first Elimination Chamber match made him the first man in WWE history to win a World title in a Steel Cage match of any kind.
Chris Jericho (8) has appeared in the most Elimination Chamber matches with Randy Orton (7), Triple H (6), Kane/John Cena (5) having also made numerous appearances.
Chris Jericho making his record breaking 10th overall elimination.
Triple H (4) has won more Elimination Chamber matches than any single wrestler, with John Cena (3) and Edge (2) being the only other men with multiple victories.
Chris Jericho (10) has the most all around eliminations of any single wrestler with Triple H (7), Undertaker (6), and CM Punk/Randy Orton (5) trailing not far behind.
Braun Strowman holds the record for the most eliminations in a single match (5).
The Undertaker and CM Punk are the only participants to enter the Elimination Chamber first and go on to win the entire match.
