As we round the corner on the road to WrestleMania, we grind to a welcome halt outside our familiar February holiday home. Like a Motel 6 on the way to Vegas, it provides us with a little respite to catch our breath before all hell breaks loose at the April showpiece. Except this motel is covered in chains, misery and over a decade of broken dreams. Again. Just like last year.
This is definitely going in the Yelp review, WWE.
Yep, it’s the Elimination Chamber. A structure of such devastation and brutality that it’s hard to put into words. So we’ve done it in numbers instead. The devil’s vocabulary, if you will.
There have been twenty-two Elimination Chamber matches since the concept’s inception at Survivor Series in 2002, leaving us with no shortage of stats, figures and miscellaneous facts to pile through. In doing so, we’ve picked out some of the more interesting Chamber-related numbers, which we’d like to share with you now.
So buckle your seatbelts, it’s about to get statistical in here.
2010 – First Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View
Starting things off gently with this entry. While the chamber itself dates back to November 2002, the first pay-per-view event to take the name of the iconic match took place in February 2010.
Prior to that point, the Elimination Chamber was an irregularly scheduled event, reserved for special occasions like SummerSlam, New Year’s Revolution and… shudder… December to Dismember.
2002 – First Elimination Chamber Match
The Elimination Chamber match was first presented to audiences by Eric Bischoff all the way back in 2002. Upon hearing the initial plans for the match, Jerry Lawler on commentary responded with a simple: “Sounds scary“. He was right.
Although canonically the brainchild of Bischoff, the match was in fact engineered by Triple H, who presumably doodled an outline of the Chamber in the same notepad he uses to create all those cool NXT logos.
While the match has become significantly safer in recent years with the introduction of more forgiving chain and softer mats around ringside, the Chamber remains one of the most gruelling, painful and dangerous experiences on the WWE calendar.
76 – Total Number of Entrants
Here’s a personal anecdote. A girl I went to University with has recently become a minor Instagram celebrity with several thousand followers. A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to crack an invite to one of her notoriously lavish birthday parties. As I was wondering around, two questions became increasingly pressing. Who on Earth are all these people? And why are they here?
Strangely enough, those are exactly the same questions that ran through my mind as I looked at the list of wrestlers who have participated in the Elimination Chamber over the years. While veterans of the event naturally include such luminaries as Triple H, John Cena and The Undertaker, we eventually started calling on the likes of Vladimir Koslov, Viscera and Mike Knox to round out the numbers.
I’m looking at you, late 2000s WWE. You should be ashamed of yourself.
67 – Best Winning Percentage
Admittedly I’m fudging the numbers a bit with this entry. Because most will know that there are a whole host of wrestlers who have emerged victorious in their sole trip to the Elimination Chamber – Bobby Lashley, Ryback, Jack Swagger and Bray Wyatt are notable examples. But it just feels like I’m tempting fate by reminding everyone that Roman Reigns has a 100% win record in Chamber matches. Let’s not go there.
So instead I’ll limit this category to those who have logged more than one appearance on their resumés. And topping that list is one Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who was the last man standing on four of the six occasions he stepped into the cell.
Only slightly less successful is fan favorite and live sex celebrator, Edge. The former World Heavyweight Champion and current Vikings supporting character has won two of four trips to the cage, for a 50% record.
53 – Percentage Chance of the Champion Retaining
Fifteen times someone walked into the chamber as the reigning champion. On eight occasions, the same person walked out with the belt. If my math is right (and if I used my laptop’s calculator correctly), that means that the champion has little more than a coin flip chance of retaining the championship.
Why is this important? Because when Tom Phillips inevitably tries to convince us that the odds are heavily stacked against Daniel Bryan retaining his title come Sunday, you’ll know that he’s just speaking the usual amount of old tosh. At least if the numbers are anything to go by.
50 – Percentage Chance of a First-time Winner
Experience means nothing, titles are overrated.
That’s the one major lesson we can draw from the event’s 18-year history. Of the 22 matches so far held by the company, 11 have been won by people competing in their first Elimination Chamber. That equates to a precisely even spread between newcomers and veterans, meaning that anyone can win at any time.
Except Jeff Hardy… we all know he’s getting eliminated first.
40 – Longest Match (Minutes)
If Vince McMahon is still searching for his beef, he could’ve found it (and then some) in the 2018 edition of the Elimination Chamber. The longest match in the event’s history also featured more competitors than ever before, as the structure was used to contain seven gigantic meat castles (as opposed to the customary six).
The extra competitor undoubtedly contributed to this match going longer than any other which came before, clocking in at an impressive 40 minutes 15 seconds.
22 – Number of Elimination Chamber Matches
There have been 22 hellish encounters since the match’s conception 17 years ago.
In that time, we’ve seen a number of variations on the traditional six-man format the event first comprised. The first departure came in 2015, when six tag teams were locked in the Chamber to contest the WWE Tag Team Championships.
Since then, the match has been expanded to include six women and seven men (both last year). And this year – as either match number 23 or 24 – the Chamber will see the crowning of the inaugural women’s tag team champions.
19 – Shortest Match (Minutes)
2003 was a rough year for wrestling fans. The invasion had failed miserably, The Rock and Stone Cold were gone, and Kevin Nash was in the main event. If there’s one saving grace for that year’s SummerSlam, it’s that at least the show was over quickly.
The entire 8-match card barely clocked 90 minutes of wrestling, with the mediocre Elimination Chamber match (featuring a seriously hampered Triple H in bicycle shorts) done and dusted in little over 19 minutes. It was uninspired, clumsy and – mercifully – short.
10 – Most Total Eliminations
In a match characterized by eliminations, we’ve certainly been served our fair share over the years. We’ve seen pinfalls, submissions and, in the case of Chris Jericho in 2012, a man getting kicked out of the Chamber. Because apparently in a match that routinely features people being thrown through plate glass panels, the most devastating thing you can do to your opponent is gently toss him two feet to the arena floor below. Who knew?
But Jericho shouldn’t feel too disheartened about that showing, as his two eliminations on the night helped propel him to a record above all others. The ‘Man of 1,004 Holds’ has knocked more people out of the match cumulatively than anyone else. His record stands at an impressive ten eliminations, three more than the nearest challenger, Triple H.
8 – Most Appearances in the Chamber
Of the 76 people to have stepped into the circular cage, only 13 have done so on three or more occasions. Even rarer are those with more than five such matches under their belts – just five men have accomplished that feat since 2002.
Leading the pack by a small margin is the ‘Ayatollah of Rock ‘n Rolla’ himself, Chris Jericho. Y2J has appeared in eight Elimination Chambers, all in the eleven years between 2002 and 2013. This places him marginally ahead of John Cena (7), Randy Orton (6) and Triple H (6).
8 – Different Titles Featured
It took over three years for anything other than the World Heavyweight Championship to be defended in an Elimination Chamber match. Once that streak was broken though, all bets were off.
In the ensuing years, we’ve seen no less than seven other belts be put on the line. They include the WWE Championship, WWE World Heavyweight Championship, ECW World Title, Tag Team belts, Intercontinental gold, Raw Women’s Title and the Universal Championship.
A ninth title will be added to this lineage come Sunday, with the inaugural Women’s Tag Team Champions being crowned at this year’s event.
6 – Most Appearances Before First Win
A measure of true grit and resilience is needed to keep stepping into the cell year after year in search of that elusive victory. And nobody embodies that dedication more than Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. I mean, Jericho still thinks his band is going to start making good music one day. Keep the dream alive, brother.
In the squared circle however, both men have found rare success. Case in point: the Elimination Chamber. While both have rightfully tasted victory in the event, each of them only did so on their sixth trip inside the steel structure.
5 – Most Appearances Without a Win
This is a title exclusively claimed by Kane… one of the very few he’s held in his career. Across five trips into the chamber, ‘The Big Red Machine’ boasts a big red zero in the wins column, fitting neatly alongside most of his exploits over the last decade.
Sharing second place in this undesirable category are Sheamus, Big Show and R-Truth, each of whom have made four appearances without return.
5 – Most Successful Entrant Number
While traditional Steiner math might lead you to believe that each entrant has an equal 16 and two-third percent chance of claiming victory (unless they’re a genetic freak, that is), in practice that hasn’t been the case. For once, in fact, logic and reality are almost aligned.
Although six victors have emerged from the desirable final spot, the fifth entrant has been even more successful, with seven total wins. Conversely, the least fortunate number statistically belongs to the third or fourth entrants (with only five winners emerging from those spots combined).
5 – Most Single Eliminations
If there’s one thing we know about Braun Strowman, it’s that his fetish for dressing up in a Wonder Woman costume is the reason I don’t sleep as well as I used to.
If there are two things we know about the ‘Monster Among Men’, it’s that he frequently dominates the competition before ultimately coming up short. He did it at last month’s Royal Rumble, he’s done it time and time again against Brock Lesnar, and for purposes of this list, he did it at Elimination Chamber 2018.
The part-time vehicle flipper dominated last year’s event, easily eliminating five men. Any other year, that would be enough to win – but not in 2018. As previously mentioned, last year’s Chamber was the first to feature seven competitors, meaning that Braun needed one more to win the match. That one never came however, as Strowman eventually fell to a rampaging Roman Reigns.
As for the standard edition Chamber matches, the title of most eliminations is a three-way tie between Goldberg (2003), The Undertaker (2008) and CM Punk (2012), each with three to their name.
4 – Most Victories
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, it’s exceptionally uncommon to see repeat winners in Elimination Chamber matches. Of the 18 past winners of the event, only three can claim multiple titles.
Those accustomed to having their hands raised at the end of such a grueling encounter are all-time greats Edge, John Cena and Triple H. While ‘the Rated R Superstar’ and ‘Big Match John’ can claim two and three wins respectively, it’s the ‘Cerebral Assassin’ who reigns supreme inside the cell. Triple H won four of the first eight editions of the Elimination Chamber match – a record yet to be eclipsed even a decade later.
4 – Longest Consecutive Appearance Streak
Plenty can say that they’ve competed in three consecutive Chamber matches. Jericho, Cena, The Undertaker and Triple H are just a few of the names on that list.
However, only one ‘Showstopper’ can claim to have been in four such matches in a row. Shawn Michaels appeared in each of the first four Elimination Chamber matches, three as a wrestler and one as the special guest referee (which totally counts as an appearance and wasn’t simply used as a convenient way to break the tie).
3 – Most Appearances Without an Elimination
This may not exactly shock people, but Wade Barrett had a tough time in WWE. And perhaps nothing sums up the Englishman’s troubles more than his run in the February marquee event.
The former King of the Ring winner has taken part in three Elimination Chamber matches over his career, failing to record a single elimination in any of them. Honestly, I’m still baffled by his decision to leave the company.
Out of interest, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro and The Great Khali are hot on his heels in this category, with each of them boasting two fruitless appearances.
1 – Creation of New Titles
The Elimination Chamber has been used to decide championships. It’s been relied upon to determine number one contenders for titles. It’s even been deployed to anoint new holders following a vacancy. One thing it’s never been used for however, is as a platform to launch new titles.
That all changes come Sunday’s pay-per-view, as the chamber will see the first WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions crowned. Setting aside WWE’s (at times) heavy-handed PR campaign, this has been a hotly anticipated moment and the prospect of more titles in the women’s division – with an accompanying increase in storylines – should excite all wrestling fans.
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