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Triple H Promotes WWE Elimination Chamber By Recalling Match Origins

By John Canton • Published Feb 28, 2026 11:20 EST
Triple H WWE World Champion (Image Via X/@TripleH)
Triple H WWE World Champion (Image Via X/@TripleH)

Triple H has looked back on the first WWE Elimination Chamber match as the company prepares for this year’s version of the event.

In an ESPN article from 2017, Triple H revealed that he pitched the Elimination Chamber match. At Survivor Series 2002 in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, the first Elimination Chamber match took place with six of Raw’s biggest names. Five of those men are in the WWE Hall of Fame now, while Chris Jericho will obviously be in there someday as well.

“When we got to the Garden and we stepped in the Chamber, was the first time any of us had ever seen it. It was a concept that I pitched and drew on a napkin, and then somebody else designed it.”

WWE’s Chief Content Officer, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, walked into Survivor Series 2002 as the World Heavyweight Champion, but Shawn Michaels walked out as the World Heavyweight Champion. The other men in the match were Booker T, Kane, Rob Van Dam, and Chris Jericho.

During the match, RVD did a Frog Splash off one of the pods, but he wasn’t able to extend his body properly due to the cage, so when he landed, RVD’s knee hit Triple H in the throat and crushed his trachea. Triple H ended up wrestling another 15 minutes in serious pain. The Game ended up in the hospital.

“We came out of the ring, I gave him a hug, got on a stretcher, they took me to the hospital and I stayed there for 24 hours. I went to the hospital, and I was pissed that I even had to go. I wanted to leave, they wouldn’t let me.

The doctor tells me, “So, let me tell you what’s going to happen [if you leave]. You’re going to leave here and you’re going to go to bed and then in the night, that’s going to swell up and you’re going to choke to death. So go ahead, you want me to get the paperwork?” And I was like “Yeah, no.”

So I stayed for 24 hours, they partially cut it, they medicated it, they got the swelling down, they did all this stuff. I left there, went to the hotel, picked up my bags, went to the airport and got on a plane.”

Triple H Looks To The Past To Build This Year’s Elimination Chamber

The Elimination Chamber has come a long way in the 24 years since that first Elimination Chamber match. While the match concept remains the same, WWE removed the metal chains outside the ring and replaced them with padding, resulting in much softer landings. It’s still one of the most devastating match concepts in WWE history, though.

In a post on X/Twitter, Triple H referenced his napkin idea involving the Elimination Chamber while also mocking Shawn Michaels’ brown pants and short hair cut that looked strange.

The concept of the “Elimination Chamber” started like all things in @WWE do… an idea that tried to answer the question “what if?” A back-of-the-napkin drawing that became a structure and now acts as a massive opportunity to main event #WrestleMania.

We all saw the #WWEChamber for the first time when we arrived @thegarden in 2002. I remember that day for many reasons – the pain of the cage and the chainlink fence, a partially collapsed trachea halfway through the match, and of course @ShawnMichaels historic championship win (and his “fashionable” gear and “stylish” haircut).

The Elimination Chamber tests the limits of a Superstar. For every bump, every bruise, I’m reminded of the brutal match that began it all and the talent who competed in it. Good luck to the men and women competing in tonight’s chamber matches.

#WWEChamber is LIVE from the @UnitedCenter TONIGHT on @ESPNPlus and @netflix internationally.

In his current role as WWE CCO, The Game won’t have to step into the Chamber and fight, but he will book the show and determine who wins the matches.

WWE Elimination Chamber is on February 28th in Chicago. Here’s the lineup:

  • Men’s Elimination Chamber Match: Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Trick Williams vs. Logan Paul
  • World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk vs. Finn Balor
  • Women’s Elimination Chamber Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka vs. Kiana James vs. Raquel Rodriguez
  • Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch vs. AJ Lee

You can watch WWE Elimination Chamber, streaming live on Saturday, February 28, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ESPN in the United States and Netflix everywhere else.