Elimination Chamber



The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match and held in the WWE promotion. The match was created by Triple H and was introduced in January 2006. It features a large chain-linked circular steel structure or "chamber" which encloses the ring. The chamber's floor is platformed over the ringside area which elevates it to ring level and within the chamber are four inner enclosures outside each ring corner. While similar in profile and nature to WWE's original large scale steel-structured match, Hell in a Cell, the Elimination Chamber match is strictly a six participant match wherein two participants begin the bout in the ring as the remaining four are held within each inner enclosure and are released into the match at five-minute intervals. The objective is to eliminate each opponent from the match via pinfall or submission. The winner is the last remaining participant after all others have been eliminated. As in the Hell in a Cell match, disqualifications do not apply. The structure itself is 16 ft (4.9 m) high, 36 ft (11 m) in diameter, weighs over 10 short tons (9,100 kg), and comprises 2 mi (3.2 km) and 6 short tons (5,400 kg) of chain. There have been twenty-four Elimination Chamber matches in WWE since the concept's inception in January 2006.

Origin
Before the introduction of the Elimination Chamber match, WWE only promoted two matches in a caged environment, the steel cage and Hell in a Cell matches. The steel cage was the first type of cage-based match in professional wrestling and consisted of four fenced walls of steel surrounding the ring apron, while the Hell in a Cell was a taller roofed version that surrounded the ring and ringside area on the ground rather than the apron. In 2006, WWE announced the creation of the Elimination Chamber, a match that combined elements of WWE's Hell in a Cell matches, Royal Rumble match, Survivor Series matches, and World Championship Wrestling's (WCW) War Games matches, such as the countdown timer and time intervals from the Royal Rumble and War Games matches, the large enclosed cage format of both Hell in a Cell and War Games, and the elimination process from the Survivor Series contest.

Rules
The Elimination Chamber match is a variation of elimination-based matches which draws elements from steel cage and Hell in a Cell matches, in that the wrestling ring is surrounded by a large steel fenced cage supported by girders. The Elimination Chamber is a circular chain-linked structure that encloses the ring. Its floor is platformed over the ringside area around the ring which elevates and levels it with the ring mat. Within the Elimination Chamber, facing the outside of each ring post behind each ring corner, are four enclosures referred to as inner chambers. The match is contested by six participants, with two beginning the bout in the ring, while the other four are held within each inner chamber. Every five minutes, one of the four participants within a chamber is released into the ongoing match. In matches involving two three-member tag teams, two participants are released into the match once every ten minutes. This continues until all four have been released, and so an Elimination Chamber match typically lasts over twenty minutes. The objective of the match is to eliminate each opponent from the match by executing a pinfall or a submission, which can occur in the ring or on the chamber's elevated floor (starting in the 2012 event, however, 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 after all others have been eliminated (or after all members of the opposing tag team are eliminated in tag team matches). A wrinkle in the rules is that if the plexiglass holding the pods of awaiting wrestlers is destroyed, they can enter the ring without waiting for the timer to expire, and can enter out of turn.

Structure
According to a WWE Magazine article in 2009 by WWE's production designer Jason Robinson, who co-designed the structure, several designs for the Elimination Chamber were considered. The structure was manufactured in Colorado Springs, Colorado and took six to eight weeks to make from design blueprints; it cost US$ 250,000 to construct.

The structure is made of black-painted steel with an outer structure of 16 frames, each weighing 300 pounds (140 kg). The chamber is 16 ft (4.9 m) high and 36 ft (11 m) in diameter, and weighs a total of 16 short tons (15,000 kg), 10 of which consists of steel. Each inner chamber consists of three large steel framed sheets of plexiglas, costing US$225 per sheet. The chains that surround the chamber stretch 2 mi (3.2 km) long and weigh 6 short tons (5,400 kg).

A 50 ft (15 m) flatbed truck is needed to transport the chamber. Assembly in the arena takes eight hours to complete, and eight motors are used to suspend the structure over the ring before each event. When not in use, the structure is stored at a dock in Newark, New Jersey.

Match history
The Elimination Chamber debuted at WWE's PPV event New Year's Revolution 2006. Since the inaugural match, there have been 24 other matches as 2016. The Raw brand has been featured in the most matches with thirteen; The SmackDown brand has been featured five times, New Year's Revolution has featured more Elimination Chamber matches than any other pay-per-view, with twenty four since 2006. Tyler Chandler and Ciaran O'Donnell share the distinction of being involved in the most number of Elimination Chamber matches to date (4). Corey Graves has the most number of victories, with three, while John Cena has the most number of eliminations with six. The majority of matches have been contested for a top-tier championship however since 2007 the WWE Women's Championship has been contested in a separate match for the Divas. In 2020 for the first-time ever the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships were contested for the first time inside the Chamber. The Elimination Chamber match has been contested only in indoor arenas in the United States. Since 2007, the match has been featured in the January pay-per-view event slot.