Elimination Chamber

The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE promotion. It features a large chain-linked circular steel structure or "chamber" which encloses the ring. The chamber's floor is platformed over the ringside area which elevates it to ring level and within the chamber are four inner enclosures outside each ring corner. While similar in profile and nature to WWE's original large scale steel-structured match, Hell in a Cell, the Elimination Chamber match is strictly a six participant match wherein two participants begin the bout in the ring as the remaining four are held within each inner enclosure and are released into the match at five minute intervals. The objective is to eliminate each opponent from the match via pinfall or submission. The winner is the last remaining participant after all others have been eliminated. As in the Hell in a Cell match, disqualifications do not apply. The structure itself is 16 ft (4.9 m) high, 36 ft (11 m) in diameter, weighs over 10 short tons (9,100 kg), and comprises 2 mi (3.2 km) and 6 short tons (5,400 kg) of chain. There have been 15 Elimination Chamber matches in WWE since the concept's inception in November 2002. Before the introduction of the Elimination Chamber match, WWE only promoted two matches in a caged environment, the steel cage and Hell in a Cell matches. The steel cage was the first type of cage-based match in professional wrestling and consisted of four fenced walls of steel surrounding the ring apron, while the Hell in a Cell was a taller roofed version that surrounded the ring and ringside area on the ground rather than the apron. In 2002, WWE announced the creation of the Elimination Chamber, a match that combined elements of WWE's Royal Rumble match, Survivor Series matches and World Championship Wrestling's (WCW) WarGames matches, such as the countdown timer and time intervals from the Royal Rumble and War Games matches, the enclosed cage format of War Games, and the elimination process from the Survivor Series contest. In 2002, to exploit additional on-screen talent after buying World Championship Wrestling (WCW), WWE began a brand extension that divided the roster between the two primary television programs of WWE, Raw and SmackDown!. Former WCW President and then Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff formally announced the creation of the chamber during the October 21 edition of Raw and scheduled the match to feature participants from the Raw brand roster at the 2002 Survivor Series. The match was exclusive to the Raw brand for the first four matches and at joint-branded pay-per-view events, but upon the creation of the ECW brand in 2006, the match was instead promoted for the newly created brand at the 2006 December to Dismember. Beginning in 2008, the match became exclusive to the No Way Out pay-per-view, and two Elimination Chamber matches were featured annually for two years among the three brands. In 2010, WWE replaced their No Way Out event with the self-titled WWE Elimination Chamber, a new pay-per-view event which continued the tradition of its predecessor. Triple H suffered a legitimate injury during the 2002 Survivor Series match with swelling on the inside of his throat which put pressure on his esophagus and trachea. This was caused after Rob Van Dam performed the maneuver the Five Star Frog Splash off the top of one of the chambers. Triple H also expressed concern that he might have broken his wrist and noted anything could have caused it. Sheamus reportedly suffered a concussion during the Raw Elimination Chamber match in 2010. The Elimination Chamber match is a variation of elimination-based matches which draws elements from steel cage and Hell in a Cell matches, in that the wrestling ring is surrounded by a large steel fenced cage supported by girders. The Elimination Chamber is a circular chain-linked structure that encloses the ring. Its floor is platformed over the ringside area around the ring which elevates and levels it with the ring mat. Within the Elimination Chamber, facing the outside of each ring post behind each ring corner, are four enclosures referred to as inner chambers. The match is contested by six participants, with two beginning the bout in the ring, while the other four are held within each inner chamber. Every five minutes, one of the four participants within a chamber is released into the ongoing match. In matches involving two three-member tag teams, two participants are released into the match once every ten minutes. This continues until all four have been released, and so an Elimination Chamber match typically lasts over twenty minutes. The objective of the match is to eliminate each opponent from the match by executing a pinfall or a submission, which can occur in the ring or on the chamber's elevated floor (starting in the 2012 event, however, all pinfalls and submissions must take place in the ring). Disqualifications do not apply in the process of elimination. The winner of the match is the last remaining participant after all others have been eliminated (or after all members of the opposing tag team are eliminated in tag team matches). The fifth match, held by the ECW brand at December to Dismember, was a slight variation called the "Extreme Elimination Chamber". In this variation, each chamber had one of four weapons for the competitors locked inside to hold on to. When each competitor's chamber opened, their weapon entered the match with them. The four weapons used in the match were a crowbar, a table, a steel folding chair, and a barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat. The Elimination Chamber debuted at WWE's PPV event Survivor Series 2002 on November 17, 2002 at Madison Square Garden. Since the inaugural match, there have been 12 other matches (15 overall) as of Elimination Chamber 2012 on February 19, 2012. The Raw brand has been featured in the most matches, with nine; ECW has been featured twice, including its joint-branded match with SmackDown. The SmackDown brand has been featured 5 times including the joint-branded match with ECW. No Way Out and Elimination Chamber has featured more Elimination Chamber matches than any other pay-per-view, with four each. Chris Jericho holds the distinctions of being involved in the most number of Elimination Chamber matches to date (7) and eliminating the most wrestlers (10). Triple H has the most number of victories, with four. The majority of matches have been contested for a top-tier championship, with the World Heavyweight Championship being fought for the most in seven matches, while three matches in 2008 and 2011 awarded the winner with number-one contenderships. The Elimination Chamber match has been contested only in indoor arenas in the United States and once in Puerto Rico. Since 2008, the match has been featured in February pay-per-view events only.

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