The venerable Royal Rumble Match may hold a special place in the hearts of WWE statisticians around the world, but it’d be a travesty to neglect the number-crunching fun of what is perhaps WWE’s most perilous match type, the Elimination Chamber.
In the more than 10 years since the Elimination Chamber’s birth, 16 matches have been fought under the structure’s inescapable caged roof, 46 Superstars have dared entry, and only 10 can say they were the last man standing.
Preview: 2014 Elimination Chamber Match
But beyond those top-level observations lies a galaxy of facts, stats and tidbits that may very well inform the strategies (and prayers) of all Superstars who venture into the Chamber.
Join us as we examine six eye-opening quantitative qualities that make the Elimination Chamber a very unique battleground within WWE’s expansive framework.
Many Superstars have dared to step foot inside the hellacious Elimination Chamber. However, one has risked his career more than anyone else, entering the vicious match multiple times in the chase of glory.
Chris Jericho has taken part in eight Elimination Chamber Matches, more than anyone in history. Y2J was the very first man to step foot inside the Chamber and be locked inside one of the pods during the brutal match’s debut at Survivor Series 2002.
Jericho won his first and only Elimination Chamber Match in 2010, defeating The Undertaker to capture the World Heavyweight Championship in 2010. His most recent appearance inside the structure was in 2013.
The Superstar with the second most appearances is Triple H, who has entered the Chamber six times. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton will tie that number this Sunday.
Given the caliber of talent invited to compete in Elimination Chamber Matches over the years and the particulars of the bout itself, any Superstar who can eliminate another competitor in the caged heat of battle should pat themselves on the back.
Chris Jericho, on the other hand, deserves a round of applause. Among his many accolades, Y2J can boast about the 10 grapplers he has evicted from the steel apparatus, which is an Elimination Chamber Match record.
And it’s not like Jericho bested the bottom feeders, either. Since he collected his first pinfall at the inaugural caged clash at Survivor Series 2002, Y2J has eliminated a veritable “Who’s who?” of Elimination Chamber Match veterans including Edge, The Undertaker and JBL.
Triple H comes in second all-time with seven eliminations.
Inside the Elimination Chamber, Triple H truly is The King of Kings. It only seems appropriate that The Game, one of earliest behind-the-scenes proponents of the Elimination Chamber Match and the second-most veteran of such battles, holds the record for the most wins inside “Satan’s Prison,” at four. But what, exactly, did Triple H accomplish by prevailing so many times in the dangerous structure?
Starting with his first victory there in 2003 and continuing all the way through to his most recent win in 2009, Triple H’s journeys into the Chamber have produced one WWE Championship and one World Heavyweight Championship reign. He also retained the World Heavyweight Title inside the Chamber and earned a WWE Title Match on The Grandest Stage of Them All. It almost makes all the pain, suffering and bruises worthwhile, doesn’t it?
Watch Triple H's epic Chamber wins: 2003 | 2005 | 2008 | 2009
Though Triple H is the all-time leader in this category, John Cena is within sniffing distance of his record at three wins. With a victory this Sunday, Cena could tie The King of Kings, in addition to capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Following the Cenation leader is Edge, with two victories. Outside of that elite class, however, no other Superstar has ever won the Elimination Chamber more than once.
To win the Elimination Chamber Match, a Superstar needs only to survive long enough to eliminate the last remaining competitor. Of course, that Superstar might have an easier time if he can expel a few more of his opponents along the way.
The record for the most expulsions from a single Elimination Chamber Match is three, which has occurred three times in the bout’s history. Goldberg became the first to accomplish the feat by knocking out a trio of foes from the cage in 2003. Carlito also terminated three foes in 2006 (with an assist from Chris Masters).
Yet only one Superstar managed to eliminate three adversaries from the same Elimination Chamber Match en route to winning the whole thing. At No Way Out 2008, The Undertaker defeated The Great Khali and Finlay before finishing off Batista with a Tombstone to nab his first and only victory in the unique match format.
It’s all about how you finish in the Elimination Chamber Match, but it may be where you start that makes all the difference.
And if WWE history is any guide, all Superstars should hope to kick off their battle in the ominous cage as entry No. 5. That’s because five Elimination Chamber Match winners commenced grappling as the fifth entrant in the bout, allowing them to turn their late arrival into a clear advantage.
Triple H, who has four victories in the steel structure during his storied career, netted three of his past wins after drawing the next-to-last entry. Bobby Lashley and WWE Hall of Famer Edge also conquered the cage with a boost from being the fifth fighter to join their respective battles in 2006 and 2009.
The next best openings come at the first and last entries, which have produced three winners apiece over the history of the Elimination Chamber Match.
We hesitate to call it beginner’s luck, for fear of being slammed on the Chamber’s steel floor or tossed into a pod. Still, there’s no ignoring the fact that first-time Chamber competitors fair extremely well inside “Satan’s Prison.” Of the 10 Superstars who have claimed victory in the 16 Elimination Chamber Matches to date, six of them did so in their Chamber debut.
Shawn Michaels accomplished this feat first, though his win came in 2002 during the Elimination Chamber’s maiden voyage, when the entire field of competitors was unfamiliar with the caged dome. The first Superstar to prevail in a Chamber match involving veterans of the structure, however, was John Cena in 2006. (That match lineup also included HBK and Kane.) Bobby Lashley followed suit later that year, as did The Undertaker in 2008, Daniel Bryan in 2012 and Jack Swagger in 2013.
Whether this factoid portends success for the next wave of first-time Chamber-“made” men remains to be seen.
Each Superstar that steps inside the Elimination Chamber has a one-in-six chance of winning. They’re not the best odds, considering the beating their bodies will take inside the structure. Still, one Superstar manages to overcome the odds and walk out a winner. Some aren’t so lucky.
Kane has competed in five Elimination Chamber Matches and owns the dubious distinction of having the worst winning percentage in Chamber history, winning none of those matches.
Randy Orton was previously tied with Kane and in a must-win situation heading into the 2014 Elimination Chamber Match, his sixth. He won, thanks to an assist from Kane, both retaining his WWE World Heavyweight Title and ensuring that The Big Red Monster has this record all to himself.
The first Elimination Chamber in history also has the distinction of being the longest. When Eric Bischoff introduced the Chamber to the WWE Universe in 2002, no one knew what to expect, least of all the Superstars who were locked inside it.
After feeling out the terrifying steel structure, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Booker T, Kane and Rob Van Dam threw all caution to the wind. RVD scaled one of the pods and leaped off to hit The Game with a Five-Star Frog Splash. Kane viciously hurled Jericho through the pod’s Lexan glass.
After 39 grueling minutes, it was Michaels who emerged victorious. When all the carnage settled down, HBK walked out of the Chamber with the World Heavyweight Title around his waist.
This Sunday’s Elimination Chamber Match will be the 17th in WWE history. Since the steel structure’s introduction at Survivor Series 2002, 45 different Superstars have had the chance to step inside the Chamber.
The list of participants is extremely varied. There are legends like Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, top Superstars of today like John Cena and Randy Orton, and young guns like Bad News Barrett and Drew McIntyre. Heck, even guys like Mike Knox and Vladimir Kozlov have found themselves locked in the hellacious cage.
How did Santino Marella fare inside the Chamber?
This Sunday, two more men will add their name to the list of lucky Superstars to enter the Chamber and make a name for themselves. Christian and Cesaro will be the 46th and 47th unique Superstars to fight it out in an Elimination Chamber Match. Will they make the most of their opportunity? Tune in this Sunday to find out.