| WWE Elimination Chamber | |
|---|---|
 WWE Elimination Chamber logo used since 2023 (minus 2024) | |
| Created by | Triple H Eric Bischoff |
| Promotion | WWE |
| Brands | Raw (2010–2011, 2018–present) SmackDown (2010–2011, 2017, 2019–present) 205 Live (2019) |
| Other name(s) | Elimination Chamber: Perth (2024) Elimination Chamber: Toronto (2025) |
| First event | 2010 |
| Signaturematch | Elimination Chamber match |
WWE Elimination Chamber is aprofessional wrestlingevent produced byWWE, aConnecticut-basedprofessional wrestling promotion. It is available only throughpay-per-view (PPV) since 2010 and WWE'slivestreaming services since 2015. The event was established in2010, replacingNo Way Out as the annual February PPV. The concept of the event is that one or two main event matches are contested inside theElimination Chamber, either with championships or future opportunities at championships at stake. The Elimination Chamber match itself had been created in 2002 and held at various other WWE pay-per-views before the establishment of the namesake event in 2010.
The2014 event was notable as it was WWE's final event to air exclusively via traditional PPV outlets due to the launch of theWWE Network the next day, as all PPV events since have aired on both PPV and livestreamed on the WWE Network. The following year, the event's February slot was replaced byFastlane, with the2015 Elimination Chamber instead being held in May. That year's event also saw the first tag team Elimination Chamber match. Although the event did not occur in 2016, it returned in2017 with a revamped Chamber design. The event also returned to the February PPV slot.
While the eponymous match was originally only for male wrestlers, the2018 event featured the first-ever women's version, as well as the first seven-man Elimination Chamber match. The2019 event determined the inaugural holders of theWWE Women's Tag Team Championship. The2020 event was notable as it was WWE's final PPV event held before the onset of theCOVID-19 pandemic, which caused all of WWE's shows to be heldbehind closed doors until mid-2021. The 2020 event was also moved to March asSuper ShowDown was held in February, but the event returned to its February slot for the2021 event, which was WWE's final PPV held before the American version of the WWE Network merged underPeacock that March. The2022 event was held inJeddah, Saudi Arabia, thus making it the first Elimination Chamber event to take place outside of theUnited States and on a Saturday. Subsequent events would continue to be held outside of the US, with the2023 event and the2025 event inCanada and the2024 event inPerth, Australia. The 2025 event was the first to livestream onNetflix outside the United States as most other countries merged under the service in January 2025. Since 2022, there has been one men's Elimination Chamber match and one women's Elimination Chamber match.
To coincide with thebrand extension, the events in 2010 and2011 featured wrestlers from theRaw andSmackDown brands before the first brand split ended in August 2011. Following the reintroduction of the brand split in mid-2016, the 2017 event was held exclusively for wrestlers from SmackDown. The 2018 event was then Raw-exclusive and was the final Raw-branded PPV of the second brand split, as following that year'sWrestleMania 34, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive pay-per-views. The 2019 event in turn featured wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands, as well as205 Live, while the events afterwards have just featured Raw and SmackDown.
In Germany, Elimination Chamber is known by a different name to avoid connotations of thegas chambers used duringthe Holocaust inWorld War II. In 2010, it retained the "No Way Out" (German:Kein Ausweg) name, which was also used for the event in 2012, but in 2011, it was calledNo Escape (German:Kein Entkommen), which became its permanent German name in 2013.[1][2]
TheElimination Chamber match was established byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002 withTriple H andEric Bischoff noted as the creators of the match.[3] It was first held at that year'sSurvivor Seriespay-per-view (PPV).[4] Over the years, the match was held at other PPV events, includingNo Way Out. After Elimination Chamber matches were featured at the2008 and2009 No Way Out events,[5][6][7][8] WWE conducted a survey in September 2009 indicating a possible renaming for No Way Out. Voted by fans via the promotion's website, Elimination Chamber became the name of the February 2010 pay-per-view event, winning against Heavy Metal, Battle Chamber, Chamber of Conflict, and the original No Way Out name.[9] Despite the poll, it was later announced that Elimination Chamber would not be considered as part of the No Way Out chronology and would instead be a new chronology, which in turn became the annual February PPV.[10] Theinaugural Elimination Chamber event was held on February 21, 2010, at theScottrade Center inSt. Louis, Missouri.[11] To coincide with thebrand extension where the promotion divided its roster into brands where wrestlers exclusively perform, the 2010 and2011 events featured wrestlers from both theRaw andSmackDown brands.[11][12] In April 2011, the company ceased using its full name, with "WWE" becoming anorphaned initialism,[13] and in August, the brand extension ended.[14]
The2014 event, which was held on February 23, was WWE's final event to air exclusively via PPV,[15][16][17] as the following day, WWE launched their online streaming service, theWWE Network, and events were broadcast on both PPV andlivestreamed on the Network.[18] In 2015, the event was initially replaced in February byFastlane because many arenas were not able to physically support the Elimination Chamber structure, thus making it easier to book the February pay-per-view event without the structure.[19] However, the2015 Elimination Chamber event was later announced to be streamed exclusively on the WWE Network in the United States on May 31 and was available on PPV internationally.[20] Although the event did not occur in 2016, it returned in2017 and featured wrestlers exclusively from the SmackDown brand, following the reintroduction of the brand split in mid-2016. The 2017 event also moved Elimination Chamber back to its regular February slot with Fastlane instead being held in March, and it also introduced a redesign to the Chamber structure itself.[21] The2018 event was then a Raw-branded show.[22] It was also WWE's final Raw-exclusive PPV of the second brand split, as following that year'sWrestleMania 34, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive pay-per-views,[23] thus the2019 event featured wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands, as well as205 Live, although it was the only to include 205 Live.[24] The2020 event was moved to March asSuper ShowDown was held in February,[25] but Elimination Chamber returned to its February slot in2021.[26]
The 2020 event, held on March 8, would be the final WWE PPV and livestreaming to be held in-person with spectators before theCOVID-19 pandemic took effect. Beginning March 13, Raw and SmackDown's events were moved to theWWE Performance Center inOrlando, Florida and heldbehind closed doors.[27] In August, the company relocated Raw and SmackDown's shows to abio-secure bubble called theWWE ThunderDome, which was first hosted at Orlando'sAmway Center.[28] The ThunderDome was then relocated toTropicana Field inSt. Petersburg, Florida in December,[29] which was also the location of the 2021 Elimination Chamber.[26] In mid-July 2021, WWE resumed a live touring schedule.[30]
In March 2021, the American version of the WWE Network became a premium channel underNBCUniversal's streaming service,Peacock. As a result, the 2021 Elimination Chamber was the final PPV and livestreaming event to air on the American version of the WWE Network before the launch of Peacock's WWE Network channel.[31][32] After a brief transitional period, the standalone version of the WWE Network in the U.S. shut down on April 4, with future events only available via Peacock's WWE Network channel and traditional PPV. This did not affect other countries at the time, which had maintained the separate WWE Network service distributed by WWE (a couple of other countries have since had the Network merged under a different streaming service, such asBinge in Australia in 2023[33]).[34]
In early 2018, WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with theGeneral Sports Authority in support ofSaudi Vision 2030,Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program.[35][36] The seventh event under this partnership was announced as the2022 Elimination Chamber, scheduled for Saturday, February 19, 2022, at theJeddah Super Dome inJeddah. It was in turn the first Elimination Chamber event to take place in Saudi Arabia, the first to take place outside of the United States, the first to be held on a Saturday, and the first Elimination Chamber to air on Peacock. It was also WWE's first previously established annual event to take place in the country.[37]
The2023 Elimination Chamber was scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at theBell Centre inMontreal,Quebec,Canada. This marked the first Elimination Chamber event to be held in Canada, and the second to be held outside of the United States, after the previous year's event. This also marked the first major WWE event to be held in Montreal sinceBreaking Point in 2009.[38] WWE would continue its run of holding Elimination Chamber outside of the United States, with the2024 event, held on February 24 at theOptus Stadium inPerth,Western Australia,Australia, marking WWE's first event to be held in Australia sinceSuper Show-Down in October 2018.[39] The2025 event returned to Canada but inToronto, Ontario, and was the first Elimination Chamber to livestream onNetflix in most international markets following the WWE Network's merger under the service in January 2025 in those areas.[40]
The Elimination Chamber event centers around the Elimination Chamber match, and the event typically includes one or two main event matches that are contested inside the structure, either with championships or future opportunities at championships at stake. The match is generally contested by six participants (or six tag teams for a tag team Chamber match), with two beginning the bout in the ring, while the other four are held within a smaller chamber within the structure. In the case of a seven-person match, which occurred at the 2018 event, three wrestlers begin the match instead of two. Every five minutes, one of the four participants (or teams) within an inner chamber is released into the ongoing match. This continues until all four have been released, with the match typically lasting over twenty minutes. The objective of the match is to eliminate all opponents viapinfall orsubmission, which originally could occur in the ring or on the chamber's elevated floor outside the ring, although in 2012, this was changed so that 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 (or team) after all others have been eliminated (for tag team Chamber matches, only one person of a team must be eliminated to eliminate the team itself).[41][42]
From 2010 to 2012, the event featured two Elimination Chamber matches, usually one for each brand until August 2011 when the brand extension ended. In 2010, Raw's Chamber match was for theWWE Championship while SmackDown's Chamber match was for theWorld Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version).[11] In 2011, the Raw Chamber match determined the number one contender for the WWE Championship atWrestleMania XXVII, while the SmackDown Chamber match was again for the World Heavyweight Championship.[12] In 2012, although the brand extension had ended, there were still two Chamber matches with one each for the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship, respectively.[43] In2013, only one Chamber match took place with the winner receiving a World Heavyweight Championship match atWrestleMania 29.[44] Following the unification of the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship inDecember 2013, the 2014 event had only one Chamber match, which was for the unified championship.[15][16][17] In 2015, there were two Chamber matches. The first featured the first-ever tag team Chamber match, which was for theWWE Tag Team Championship (renamed Raw Tag Team Championship in 2016 and then World Tag Team Championship in 2024), while the second Chamber match was for the vacantWWE Intercontinental Championship.[20]
After the brand extension was reinstated in mid-2016, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship reverted to being called the WWE Championship and became exclusive to SmackDown. The 2017 event was in turn SmackDown-exclusive and the main event was a Chamber match for the brand's WWE Championship.[21] The 2018 event was then Raw-exclusive and featured two Chamber matches. One was the first-ever women's Chamber match and it was for theRaw Women's Championship. The other was a men's Chamber match which was the first-ever seven-man Chamber match to determine the number one contender for theUniversal Championship at WrestleMania 34.[22]
After brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued following WrestleMania 34, the 2019 event featured both brands. There were two Chamber matches. One was a women's tag team Chamber match to determine the inaugural holders of theWWE Women's Tag Team Championship and featured three teams from each brand, while the other was a SmackDown-exclusive Chamber match for the WWE Championship.[24] Later that year, the Universal Championship and WWE Championship switched brands. The 2020 event featured one Chamber match for each brand. SmackDown's was a tag team Chamber match for theSmackDown Tag Team Championship, while Raw's was a women's Chamber match for a Raw Women's Championship match atWrestleMania 36.[25] At the 2021 event, the Raw Chamber match was for the WWE Championship, while SmackDown's Chamber match was for an immediate Universal Championship match that same night.[26] The 2022 event had two Chamber matches, but both were Raw-exclusive. One was a men's Chamber match for the WWE Championship[45] while the other was a women's Chamber match for a Raw Women's Championship match atWrestleMania 38.[46]
The 2023 event had two Chamber matches, one each for the men and women. The men's match was Raw-exclusive and was for theUnited States Championship, which was the first time for the title to be contended in the match. The women's Chamber match was for a Raw Women's Championship match atWrestleMania 39, and it featured three wrestlers from each brand (the Raw Women's Championship later moved to SmackDown and was renamed as the WWE Women's Championship).[47]
As the WWE Championship and Universal Championship had been held and defended together as theUndisputed WWE Universal Championship since April 2022, a newWorld Heavyweight Championship was created in April 2023 and subsequently designated to Raw after the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship became exclusive to SmackDown as a result of the2023 WWE Draft. The Raw and SmackDown women's championships also switched brands and were renamed as the WWE Women's Championship andWomen's World Championship, respectively. The 2024 event would then also have two Chamber matches with one each for the men and women and both matches featured wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown. The women's match had three wrestlers from each brand, while the men's had three from SmackDown, two from Raw, and one free agent. Each match determined the respective challengers for the World Heavyweight Championship and Women's World Championship atWrestleMania XL.[48] Also at WrestleMania XL, the Universal Championship was retired, with the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship truncated to Undisputed WWE Championship, following the lineage of the WWE Championship. The 2025 event would also have a men's and women's chamber match, with the respective winners earning matches for the Undisputed WWE Championship and Women's World Championship atWrestleMania 41.[49]
| Raw-branded event | SmackDown-branded event |
