WWE: Top Five Performances Inside The Elimination Chamber

A nightmare structure consisting of miles of bone-slicing steel chains locking fighters inside sounds like something out of a horror movie. However, no need to scream in fear, it is the Elimination Chamber and you are safe on the outside.

In 2002, Eric Bischoff presented his ingenious yet devilish match to the world. In reality, created by Triple H drawing on a napkin, the Elimination Chamber was a mesh of a steel cage, a Hell In a Cell, and tons of unrelenting chains. The inaugural match was a sight for wrestling fans to see as nobody knew what to expect. Nevertheless, 21 years after the first Elimination Chamber match, it has become a staple of the WWE. Once a special match type for pay-per-views, the Elimination Chamber has moved into a league of its own with its own pay-per-view.

Since the creation of the match in 2002, we have had an Elimination Chamber match nearly every single year except for two outliers: 2004 and 2016. There have been two specialty chamber matches for tag teams and one singles-based chamber with seven participants, but the chamber has stayed to the standard six for the most part. Despite the prize on the line, fighters that enter the Elimination Chamber know it is a fight for survival. Today, we rank which five participants gave the best performance inside the steel nightmare.

5. Braun Strowman (2018)

In the biggest singles-style elimination chamber with seven participants, “The Monster Among Men” showed why he earned that nickname by clearing out all but one competitor by himself. The unique seven-man chamber match started with a triple-threat scenario between Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, and The Miz. Things only got even more exciting as the next two competitors in the match were John Cena and Roman Reigns. However, the whole game changed when Braun Strowman made his way into the match just when Roman Reigns looked to be in control.

Once Strowman was released from his cage, he started destroying everybody in sight. The Miz had the best idea to try and run from Strowman but with everyone else in his path taken out, Strowman set after Miz, who climbed to the top of a chamber pod. A highlight of the match came when Strowman launched The Miz from off the top of the pod before standing on top of it himself and looking over all the chaos that he had caused before soon setting his sight on getting his first elimination and removing The Miz from the match.

However, Strowman looked most unstoppable after taking the finishing move of everyone in the ring and still being able to stay in the match. After Strowman managed to recover, he went on a terror in the match taking everyone in his line of sight out. He eliminated five men on his own before finding himself alone with Roman Reigns. Despite Strowman’s incredible and record-breaking performance, Reigns eventually got the victory and a Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 34.

4. Shayna Baszler (2020)

While Braun Strowman may have set the record, Shayna Baszler matched him two years later and one-upped him at the same time. While they both pulled off five impressive eliminations, Shayna won the entire match to move on to fight for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36. At the start of 2020, Shayna was still riding high in the company fresh off of holding the NXT Women’s Championship for over 400 days. She was the fourth woman to enter the match and it was all over for everybody else in the match at that point moving forward.

Shayna reminded everybody that she was most comfortable fighting inside some sort of cage. She dismantled each of her five other opponents with near ease. She had already taken out four of her opponents before the final participant Asuka could even enter the match. Once she did, she gave her best against Shayna in what was a dream fight between two of the best former NXT Women’s Champions. In the end, Shayna submitted her ultimate test, Asuka, to make it a clean sweep and look dominant and potentially unstoppable.

While defeating five opponents was impressive on its own, she made her mark even more threatening by defeating each opponent by submission. She was out on a mission to show that she was the most dangerous woman in the company and the biggest threat to the Raw Women’s Championship. While she looked to be unstoppable, she would have to fight “The Man” Becky Lynch that was still riding the wave of a lifetime. Unfortunately, Baszler couldn’t make that wave crash and she has struggled to ever find the same momentum.

3. Shawn Michaels (2002)

When the Elimination Chamber was first introduced by Eric Bischoff, it promised to bring bloodshed and destruction. However, the fans or the wrestlers themselves had no clue what to truly expect. When the Elimination Chamber was finally revealed it looked like something made in a horror movie. Six of Raw’s top stars at the time, five to become future WWE Hall of Famers, stepped into the structure unsure of what shape they would end up leaving it. While the match was for Triple H’s World Heavyweight Championship, the story was about Shawn Michaels.

After an early retirement forced by back injuries, Michaels has been pushed out of retirement to get his hands on his former friend turned bitter rival, Triple H. In his first match since facing “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania 14 in 1998, Shawn returned to the ring at SummerSlam to face Triple H in an unsanctioned match. They went nearly 30 minutes in a grueling back-and-forth match that showed above all else that Shawn Michaels still had it. However, their feud was over there. It continued after SummerSlam and was blasted all over the Elimination Chamber match.

While the match included Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, Kane, and  Booker T, it was about Triple H and Shawn Michaels. It came as no surprise when it came down to the pair in the final two. After nearly 40 minutes, Michaels, bloodied and battered, caught Triple H with the Sweet Chin Music to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first and last time in his career. Shawn shined in the match after being the sixth man out. He picked up two eliminations including the mentioned Triple H but also eliminated Chris Jericho in the foretelling first strike of what would become a tremendous feud the next year between the two.

2. Batista (2005)

In 2004, Evolution was the top stable in the company. Triple H had led the stable to dominate Raw for the past two years. Ric Flair had regained that spark that made him “The Nature Boy.” He had a strut to his step again.  Randy Orton and Batista had been groomed well and were on the brink of becoming the future of the WWE that they were promised to be. 2004 was the breakout year for Randy Orton as he become the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history at the age of 24. However, while it was Orton’s crowning achievement at the time, it completely changed Evolution.

Triple H led the rest of Evolution to turn on Orton out of Triple H’s own jealousy and desire to have the World Heavyweight Championship back. Fast forward to the beginning of the next year at the inaugural New Year’s Revolution, Randy Orton was a top young babyface in the Elimination Chamber looking to get back the title he lost to his former mentor. However, the focus of many in the match was the protective large shadow Triple H had in the match in the form of Batista. However, things seemed to have backfired for Triple H at first as Batista was out last.

Nevertheless, when Batista’s time to enter came, he started to destroy everything in his sight – except for Triple H, who was bloodied and desperately needing “The Animal’s” help. Batista had a breakout performance in this match as he shifted the match back in the favor of Evolution quickly. He picked up two eliminations in the match and was on the brink of a third before Randy Orton low-blowed him and caught him with the RKO to eliminate him. Despite being eliminated, Batista didn’t stay away for long.

While Ric Flair attempted to interfere and was stopped by special referee Shawn Michaels, Batista leveled Orton with a clothesline that led to Triple H managing to retain his championship thanks to Batista’s help. However, the seeds were sewn and Batista was beginning to realize his potential and how much Triple H was using him. Less than a month later, Batista was standing victorious in that year’s Royal Rumble match with a date with Triple H at WrestleMania 20 to skyrocket Batista’s career.

1. Kofi Kingston (2019)

The choice for the best performance inside the elimination chamber goes to a person who wasn’t originally even supposed to be in the match. Originally, the Elimination Chamber match was planned to be a coming-out party and a showcase of Mustafa Ali for a main event push. Unfortunately, the most untimely injury struck Mustafa and took him out of competition at the worst possible time. While Ali unfortunately suffered, his spot had to be filled and Kofi Kingston was pushed to take his spot.

The momentum all starts on the episode of SmackDown before Elimination Chamber. All six competitors competed in a gauntlet match to determine who would enter the chamber last. In the gauntlet, Kingston shined by defeating then-WWE Champion Daniel Bryan, cleanly, right off the bat before going on to eliminate Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe before eventually being eliminated by AJ Styles. Despite his elimination, Kofi lasted for over 40 minutes and the fans were watching and they were going to make sure that they were being heard.

Just a few days later, Kofi was tasked to go on another marathon attempt – this time inside a steel chamber of destruction – if he wanted to fulfill his dream of becoming the WWE Champion. Kofi was the third man to enter the match and the first out of his pod. From the moment that Kingston was released, the fans were fully behind him and Kofi was about to go off in the best possible way. He showed that he was here to chase his dreams when he chased Daniel Bryan to the top of a chamber pod by leaping to the top.

Kofi Kingston had been a workhorse for years that had only gotten even a smidge of a main event shot years ago. However, it was on this night that the WWE Universe decides that enough was enough and it was time for a change. Kofi gave his second career-changing performance in one week inside the chamber. Kingston fans got to get a sweet taste of revenge along with Kofi during this match when he was able to eliminate Randy Orton, the man speculated as the reason Kofi’s initial push was canceled. After slaying that dragon that held him back, Kofi Kingston was off.

The chamber came down to Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston and the two went for over 10 minutes giving their absolute all. Fans were on the edge of their seats on multiple occasions thinking that Kofi was going to pull off the miracle. In the end, Daniel Bryan managed to pull off the victory and retained his championship. However, anyone who had just witnessed that showing knew that the true winner was Kofi Kingston. After the match was over, he was joined by his brothers in The New Day as the WWE Universe gave Kofi a well-deserved standing ovation.

While nobody could have imagined what had happened on this night then, “KofiMania” has just been born. The loyal fans of Kingston started an uprising on the level of Daniel Bryan’s “Yes! Movement” a few years before. Ironically, Kofi’s own fairy tale led him to face Bryan at WrestleMania to achieve what many deemed to be impossible and become the WWE Champion.