5 Greatest Elimination Chamber Matches Of All Time
The Elimination Chamber premium live event originated back in 2010. From that point onwards, WWE has presented Elimination Chamber bouts usually as a final stop on the Road to WrestleMania.
However, the gimmick originated some eight years earlier and made its debut at the 2002 Survivor Series. In the two decades since, the Chamber has become one of the company’s premier gimmick matches.
This feature looks back at the five greatest Elimination Chamber matches in history.
#5 Triple H vs Goldberg vs Shawn Michaels vs Randy Orton vs Kevin Nash vs Chris Jericho – SummerSlam 2003
The second Elimination Chamber was built around Bill Goldberg who had joined WWE several months earlier but had failed to get over with WWE’s fans to the same level he had in WCW a half-decade earlier.
However, this match was his coming out party. It should have resulted in him being crowned World Champion but he needed to wait a few more weeks before he would lift the gold.
Goldberg smashed through Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, and Chris Jericho in rapid fashion after a series of huge, high-impact offensive manoeuvres.
Triple H entered the match as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion but didn’t exit his pod until the entire field sans Goldberg had been ejected from the bout after tasting a Superkick from Michaels as he attempted to enter the fray.
‘The Cerebral Assassin’ locked himself in his pod to escape from ‘Da Man’ but Goldberg punched through the glass and annihilated ‘The Game.’
However, Ric Flair sneaked a sledgehammer into the contest and as Goldberg attempted a Spear, Triple H nailed him in the head with his equaliser.
Moments later and Triple H was still the champion. Although he didn’t win, Goldberg was the star of the show and his intense performance won over WWE crowds. A cracking chamber match-up.
#4 Triple H vs The Undertaker vs Jeff Hardy vs Edge vs Big Show vs Kozlov – No Way Out 2009
No Way Out 2009 played host to two Elimination Chamber match-ups but it was the first Chamber bout for the WWE Championship which was the superior contest.
The defending champion, Edge, who had only become champion himself the previous month at the Royal Rumble was shockingly pinned after just three minutes by Jeff Hardy. That meant a new champion was guaranteed.
Kozlov and Big Show dominated Hardy before Hardy responded with a breath-taking Swanton off a pod to eliminate Show.
The final two were The Undertaker and Triple H. The pair engaged in a back and forth seven minute mini match of their own, reminiscent of the ending of Royal Rumble 2007.
‘The Cerebral Assassin’ reversed a Last Ride attempt into a Pedigree to win the match and the title.
A superb match-up full of emotion and crisp wrestling. One of the finer Chamber matches in history.
#3 Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles vs Jeff Hardy vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton vs Samoa Joe – Elimination Chamber 2019
In early 2019, Kofimania was running wild and the New Day star had the Houston crowd eating out of his hand as they firmly backed his quest to win a maiden World Title.
Samoa Joe was the first man ejected from the bout but not before he had nailed all his big moves and wrecked the other participants. In one of the more memorable spots in the bout, Jeff Hardy hit a picture-perfect Swanton off a pod onto AJ Styles.
In a hugely satisfying moment, Kingston eliminated Randy Orton in a call-back to their feud a decade earlier. The final two were Kingston and reigning WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan.
The pair engaged in a 12-minute one-on-one battle in which Kingston had several visual pins on the champion only to be continually denied at the last possible moment.
The crowd heat intensified as support for the challenger grew exponentially. His fire was finally extinguished when Bryan countered a splash into the Lebell Lock to earn the submission win.
Phenomenal, logical action, masterful storytelling, and a molten hot crowd made this easily one of the finest Chamber matches of all time. A terrific encounter.
#2 Triple H vs Shawn Michaels vs Rob Van Dam vs Booker T vs Chris Jericho vs Kane – Survivor Series 2002
The inaugural Elimination Chamber two decades on remains one of the greatest Chamber contests ever held.
World Champion Triple H faced a long list of his enemies, many of whom he had feuded with extensively throughout the year.
‘The Game’ and Rob Van Dam started the bout and had an exciting exchange. RVD memorably became the first man to perform a move from the top of a pod, nailing (and legitimately) injuring Triple H with a Frog Splash. He also busted Triple H open, which only added to the drama.
Kane threw Chris Jericho through the bulletproof glass which earned a monster ovation from the New York crowd. After Booker T eliminated RVD, he himself was ejected when he suffered a Chokeslam from Kane and a Lionsault from Jericho.
The action intensified when Shawn Michaels entered the fray. ‘The Showstopper’ was wrestling only his second WWE match in four years following his enforced absence from the ring post-WrestleMania XIV.
It took Sweet Chin Music from Michaels, a Pedigree from Triple H, and a Lionsault from ‘Y2J’ to finally eject Kane from the bout.
The bloody pair of Triple H and Jericho busted Michaels open too. ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ fought against two-on-one odds in a hugely dramatic period.
Michaels withstood a Lionsault and when Jericho and ‘The Game’ turned on each other, ‘Y2J’ put the Walls of Jericho on Triple H and a weary Michaels managed to blast Jericho with Sweet Chin Music to eliminate him.
That set up a nine-minute one-on-one encounter between former buddies, Michaels and Triple H. Just as he had at SummerSlam, ‘The Icon’ came out on top. After kicking out of a Pedigree, Michaels reversed a second attempt and smashed the World Heavyweight Champion with Sweet Chin Music to cap off his fairy tale comeback with a World Title win.
Violent, bloody, with great brawling and technical action, and fabulous storytelling, the inaugural Elimination Chamber match was a sterling effort from all involved. Every wrestler looked good and hit their spots. The first Chamber match has only been bettered once in the Chamber’s two-decade history.
#1 Triple H vs Randy Orton vs Batista vs Chris Benoit vs Kane vs Edge – New Years Revolution 2005
The 2005 New Year’s Revolution show pitted Raw’s top stars against each other for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. The belt had been declared vacant due to the controversial finish of the title bout on Raw between Triple H, Chris Benoit, and Edge, when Benoit made Edge tap at the same time, Edge pinned Benoit.
Shawn Michaels was the special guest referee for a superlative contest.
The two main stories heading into the matchup were Edge’s obsession with winning his first world crown and the increasing discord between Evolution stablemates, Triple H and Batista.
Benoit and Chris Jericho kicked off the bout with a great display of wrestling and counter-wrestling as they kept rolling through and reversing each other’s moves.
Edge was eliminated after arguing with Michaels, which resulted in ‘HBK’ nailing him Sweet Chin Music.
Batista dominated the match and ejected Benoit and Jericho in rapid fashion before Randy Orton caught him with an opportunistic RKO. Batista’s so-called buddy, ‘The Game’ watched on and allowed his Evolution comrade to be pinned by Orton.
Triple H subsequently defeated ‘The Legend Killer’ to win the World Title.
With chain wrestling, huge power moves, lashings of claret, excellent storytelling, and non-stop action, the 2005 Elimination Chamber was a fabulous encounter. It also brilliantly laid the groundwork for the famous and financially successful WrestleMania 21 headliner between Triple H and Batista.
New Year’s Revolution played host to the finest Elimination Chamber match of all time.
You can watch every Elimination Chamber match exclusively on the WWE Network.