November 2021 marked the twentieth anniversary of the Elimination Chamber in WWE programming. This structure is a symbol of brutality and chaos that reminisces of the earlier non-PG days of WWE. Over the years, the structure has become safer to protect the superstars from injuries but whenever it comes back, it certainly promises to unleash ruthlessness.
In general, Elimination Chamber PPV is placed before Wrestlemania so that the winners’ blood and sweat inside the ominous structure could take him/her to the Biggest Event of the Year. Over the years, superstars made a career out of this structure while there are a few who have been forgotten despite winning the hellacious bout. Here’s five of them,
Special mention:
Alexa Bliss
In 2018, WWE’s female superstars performed for the first time in an Elimination Chamber match at the pay-per-view named under the structure. Bliss entered the Chamber as the RAW Women’s Champion who also managed to escape with the title. It was a “terrified” experience for the superstar heading into the match who was booked to get squashed by Nia Jax at WrestleMania 34. While Jax’s win is well-documented, Bliss never got the deserved credit to win the inaugural match.
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Five forgotten Elimination Chamber winners
5. Bray Wyatt
After a gap of one year, WWE brought back Elimination Chamber as a Smackdown-exclusive PPV event in 2017. Bray Wyatt participated in the only Chamber match of his career that year and won that match to become the WWE Champion for the first time. He eliminated the defending champion John Cena and then pinned AJ Styles to take the title. But he dropped the belt to Randy Orton at WrestleMania 33 and thereby his Chamber win appeared to be a fluke.
4. The Miz and John Morrison
Back in March 2020, we saw tag teams participate in an Elimination Chamber match where The Miz and John Morrison retained the SmackDown Tag Team Champions at this time over five other times, including The New Day, who was limited to only two members in the match this time. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, events thereafter moved to WWE Performance Center where The Miz lost the SmackDown Tag Titles the following month in a Triple Threat.
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3. Ryback
At this point, it’s unbelievable to think of an Intercontinental Title match inside the Elimination Chamber structure but it did go down in the year 2015. In a WWE Network Specials, Ryback won the vacant Intercontinental Championship in the gimmick match in May 2015. This was the only title win for Ryback in his career but Daniel Bryan’s relinquishment and eventual retirement got the focus.
2. Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho performed in eight Elimination Chamber matches and won in one, back in the 2010 edition. The final moments saw Shawn Michaels coming out of one of the steel grate panels inside the Chamber. HBK hit a superkick to the Undertaker and Jericho capitalized by pinning Taker to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Michaels’ interference led to his match against Undertaker at WrestleMania 26, a rivalry that overshadowed Jericho’s last world title win in the WWE.
1. Jack Swagger
Jack Swagger was mostly treated as a mid-carder in his WWE career and his win inside the Elimination Chamber structure was a pure shocker. Rebranded as a “Real American” and Zeb Colter as his manager, Swagger won the 2013 edition that made him the number-one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Just days after his Chamber win, Swagger was arrested in Mississippi, charged with DUI, marijuana possession, and speeding. Thus, he ended up coming up short against Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania 29.
