Evolution Schematic 02.02.08: The Elimination Chamber

Posted by Mathew Sforcina on 02.02.2008

Maybe I should have called this "In Defense Of... The Elimination Chamber (Part 4 of 3)".

Writer's Notes

Hello one and all to this special edition of the ES! Why is it special? Well, because as well as each of our entrants being locked into glass chambers, we have the return of the Evolution Schematic Special Super Duper Bonus Video! But first a smidgen of explanation.

See, there's this series of videos on Youtube, Botchamania, and it's hilarious, if at times painful to watch. Especially if you don't like seeing men dropped on their head. I've mentioned them in the past, much to Maffew's delight, him being the current creator of them. But this time is something special, as he used one of MY suggestions. Earlier in the year, the fed I work for, AWF, brought out Bryan Danielson for the International Assault II tour (a review of night one by JD Dunn can be seen right here baby!, but also had a couple of shows in Queensland the week before the IA2 shows. And we had mostly our guys, with a couple of QLD wrestlers on the shows as well. And one of them, Blade, went for a move that to this day, I don't quite understand what he expected to happen. It's at about 1:05 in the video.

Evolution Schematic Special Super Duper Bonus Video!



Although really, without sound it does lose a smidgen of its impact…

Evolution Schematic Special Super Duper Hyper Bonus Bonus Video!



But from one man's attempted flight, to a gimmick match from a company renowned for them, but the mind of a man not truly associated with said company…

This column is rated "CB". It contains use of He Who Must Not Be Named.

Obviously.



Overview

Eric Bischoff is remembered for many things. A poor quality announcer (or at least one too fond of unneeded adjectives). A taekwondo expert (not karate as some have claimed). Friend of DDP. Man who came this close to killing the WWF, and also came that close to becoming owner of WCW. The man who was perhaps the finest General Manager a WWE brand has had (that being admittedly a short list), certainly the longest running. Friend and business partner to the older brother from The Wonder Years. And, of course, the man behind the New World Order.

But for all his impacts on the business, for all his creations and ideas, it is a relatively minor one we are looking at today. To Bischoff, this idea was on par with getting in touch with Scott Baio's old girlfriends, or his reign as WCW Hardcore Champion. But as a relatively new match type, combining parts of the Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and this columns most missed match, Wargames, the Elimination Chamber has become a fixture in the WWE, albeit a rarely used one. It's a structure and a match where champions enter, new ones often come out, and coming up, it'll be pulling double duty.

I sure hope the glass holds up…

Premise- Not so much an original idea as several old ones… Mixed with a LOT of steel.

Create a steel chamber of chains and girders, 36 feet in diameter, with 10 tons of steel and 2 miles of chain.

This will take some time.

Add into it 4 glass chambers, or pods, that are just large enough to comfortably hold a large male wrestler. Ensure it has space for the ring, but keeps everyone out and the floor of the chamber is level with the ring.

Paint black.

Congratulations, you've just built the Elimination Chamber.

As for it's (current) rules, each of the 6 participants have a draw to decide which two ‘lucky' superstars will start the match (ala the Royal Rumble). The other 4 go into pods, one per pod. If your feeling adventurous, have each pod include a weapons as well. After a period of time (3-5 minutes being the general scope of the time interval, ala the Rumble and Wargames) a random pod is opened and the superstar (with or without weapon) inside that pod is now legal. Continue until all 6 men are legal. Elimination occurs by pinfall or submission, once you've tapped or been pinned, your out, ala Survivor Series.

Overall however, the match has the most similarities to Wargames, albeit an every man for himself style one. Time periods, random entry, it's Wargames for the new millennium of a sort. Even if the old one was just fine.

Regardless, it's still one of Eric Bischoff's lasting imprints on the WWE, along with Money In The Bank and Raw Roulette. Of course, the first match had a lot to do with it's longevity…

Origins- Eric Bischoff loves controversy, and a lot of people hate HHH.

All the matches that played a part in the creation of the Elimination Chamber have been around for a long time. All of them are now for violence, chaos, and generally being awesome matches. And it was this fusion that Eric Bischoff needed. For at No Mercy, Stephanie McMahon had…

Well, Brock Lesner and The Undertaker had had a bloodbath of a match with their Hell In A Cell match for the WWE Title. Eric then gave some rare praise to Steph for making the match. But he felt the need to top it.

So he created the Elimination Chamber.

To fill the gaps he had just created, there was HHH, World Heavyweight Champion, and a whole brand fill of guys who hated him and wanted a shot at his belt. So he cherry picked the guys, and so created the first Elimination Chamber match for said World Heavyweight Championship.

Debut- Shawn Michaels rises to the top once again.

Eric Bischoff, despite liking HHH, did not pick anyone who was overly fond of him to enter the match. Even the closest thing to an ally he had in the match, Jericho, was obsessed with becoming champion once again. Booker T was eager to gain his first world title in the WWE. Kane was still pissed off about that whole Katie Vick saga. RVD was RVD. And Shawn Michaels walked in with the sole purpose to make sure HHH didn't leave as champion.

This purpose however fractured in the face of winning the match.

The match itself went, at first, somewhat predictably. With HHH's luck, he was first cab off the rank, and had to fight RVD for 5 minutes. RVD then took one too many chances, and while crushing HHH's throat, he left himself open for a pin at the hands of Booker T.

Kane then entered, kicked ass, and didn't care when Jericho pinned Booker T with a Lionsault off a Chokeslam from Kane.

Kane then let himself get distracted with the pain infliction and violence and such, and ended up getting beat up by all 3 men in the ring, everyone having entered by now, and pinned.

This left Shawn at a 2 to 1 disadvantage, as Jericho and Hunter made an alliance of opportunity, their hatred of each other shallow just enough to see that HBK was a threat that had to be taken care of. But Jericho went for a cover once too often, leading to him and Hunter brawling, the Walls on HHH, a Superkick from Shawn to Jericho, and just like that, it was down to HHH and HBK.

Michaels then fulfilled his promise, and, after losing sight of his goal, reached it, superkicking Hunter right in the face, pinning him, and thus winning his first world title in 4 years, and so far, his last world title.

Phase 2- All Hail The Mighty Scott's Pine Sledgehammer!

A bit under a year later, and the more things changed, the more they stood the same. As HHH rolled into Summerslam, his scheduled one on one title defence against Goldberg had been ‘added to' by Co-Raw GM Mick Foley, adding in Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton, oh, and the (3 minute interval) Elimination Chamber stipulation. Mick couldn't change the match that Eric Bischoff had signed before he became Co-GM, only add to it, see. But this time, HHH had a plan. He was walking in injured, but that didn't matter.

First off, Jericho and Michaels started off, the two no strangers to each other, having a memorable match at Wrestlemania XIX earlier in the year. Randy Orton was first out of the pods, followed by Kevin Nash, who was quickly eliminated but then powerbombed everyone on his way out for the hell of it. As everyone was recovering, HHH's pod opened, and his plan would begin.

Although being superkicked back into the chamber and being knocked out was probably not part of the plan, or perhaps it was, and HHH was playing possum. Certainly it allowed him to avoid the Final Smash Ball that was Goldberg, who as last one in destroyed and pinned Orton, Michaels and Jericho in about 3 minutes. But then Hunter, with an assist from Ric Flair on the outside who slid the sledgehammer in, managed to stop and pin Goldberg with a mighty blow from the hammer, knocking him out and thus winning the day, but not the war, as Goldberg would end up with the title later on.

Phase 3- Never bet against HHH.

By this time, HHH was a savvy man inside the Chamber. Like with the Cell, he knew his waqy around, and despite a minor setback at the start, he was good at them by the time the third one came around in 05.

The match had been signed because in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Title set up by Randy Orton on his night as Raw GM saw a controversial end take place. Edge and Benoit were the joint winners of a battle royal to get the shot, then in the match Benoit locked in the Crossface on Edge, who managed to pin Benoit while in the hold, 1, 2, as the third hand slap occurred, Edge tapped out.

The buck was passed from Orton to Jericho to Vince to Eric, who decided to put the belt up for grabs at the next Raw only PPV, New Year's Revolution 2005, in the chamber. The entrants he picked all had logical reasons for their inclusion.

HHH: I never lost the belt!
Edge: I pinned Chris Benoit 1, 2, 3.
Benoit: I made Edge tap like a little girl.
Orton: I was screwed out of the title!
Batista: I have pinned Benoit, and have gotten many wins recently and have a very good win/loss record as a member of Evolution.
Jericho: I'm Chris Jericho, bitch.

The match itself saw Shawn Michaels guest referee, and that proved to be a mistake in keeping it fair and balanced, as Shawn did get involved, kicking Edge's head off and thus making him the first man pinned as Jericho took advantage, Benoit and HHH doing nothing to stop it. As HHH, third man in, was beaten up by all three men who hated him, the first two entrants in Jericho and Benoit, as well as the fifth, Randy Orton. But Batista, loyal Evolution member, saved HHH just in time from the Walls of Crossface (a.k.a the Crippler Jericho), Batista kicking ass and taking names, pinning Benoit and Jericho quickly before falling to Orton (which HHH could have stopped but chose not to) before HHH distracted the ref, Batista nailed Orton again, and HHH hit an academic Pedigree to keep the belt as Evolution celebrated.

Phase 4- A backdrop for the REAL Main Event.

This began a short lived annual tradition as the match seemed to become a New Year's Revolution trademark. But the 4th Elimination Chamber is largely forgotten, due to what happened after the match. See, John Cena was WWE Champion, and Bischoff, not being a fan of Cena, decided to hold another Elimination Chamber match at NYR. Qualifiers were held, with Kurt defeating Ric Flair, Carlito getting past Shelton Benjamin despite Shelton's Mama at ringside, Shawn Michaels qualified after defeating the Big Show by DQ, Chris Masters beat Viscera to get in and finally Kane qualified after defeating Triple H with help from his partner Big Show.

The match itself saw Carlito and Masters, as the only non-former World Champs, team up and pretty much dominate. At first, it didn't seem that the duo, who had agreed to work together, would get a chance, as Cena and Michaels started off, then Carlito entered. Kurt was next out and surprisingly first gone, as he ended up eating a HBK superkick and got pinned after Masters came in but before Kane did.

But it was at this point that Carlito and Masters gelled. They teamed up and double pinned Kane, then Carlito pinned HBK after he gave Sweet Chin Music to Cena.

This left Cena vs. Carlito and Masters, but Cena fought back, then Masters and Carlito argued over who would pin Cena, Carlito rolled up Masters, then Cena rolled up Carlito.

By itself, it was an ok match. But the aftermath, which saw Edge come out, cash in his Money In The Bank shot, and pin Cena is what sets this match into the record books, as the Chamber tired Cena out enough that Edge was able to beat him for the belt.

So up until now, the Chamber was doing well as a gimmick match. Then it went to heck.

Phase 5- The Extremely Sucky One.

It seemed to be an ok build.

RVD had won the right to fight Big Show, ECW champion and Paul Heyman's chosen champion, given their past working relationship and Heyman's need to placate the WWE. RVD won the title match, and declared that he would take the shot at ECW's First Solo PPV as a full WWE Brand, December To Dismember. Heyman agreed, but again ‘added' to the match, making it an Extreme Elimination chamber match, the other four spots for qualifiers. Sabu beat Kevin Thorne to qualify, beloved new guy CM Punk beat Mike Knox and hated bastard Test beat Tommy Dreamer. The final spot was meant to be given to Hardcore Holly by Heyman, but Bobby Lashley attacked and took Holly out, signing his name to the contract instead.

So on paper, it was set to be a fun, Extreme match.

But then things went bad.

Sabu was attacked at the show, and taken out of contention for the match. So, Heyman subbed Holly into the match in replace of Sabu.

This didn't exactly fill the fans with cheer.

The show leading up to the match wasn't great. It wasn't the worst show in history, but it was pretty bad. After Heyman explained the rules, and spoke about how each pod had a weapon, the entrants came out. RVD and Holly started off, and after 5 minutes they were joined by CM Punk with his chair. Punk had been on a roll, being undefeated in ECW full stop prior to the show, and being very popular.

The fact that, after Test came in with his crowbar, RVD took everyone out then hit a ***** on, given his choices of all 3 guys, CM Punk, then pinned Punk to eliminate him, did not sit well with the fans.

Test then pinned Holly, which the fans were neutral about.

Then RVD, stupidly, went to the top of Big Show's chamber, allowing Show to distract him long enough for Test to slam him off, hit an elbow drop onto a chair, and pin him. That REALLY pissed the fans off.

Then Lashley fighting, overcoming the odds, using his table to escape his locked pod, spearing Test to pin him before Big Show got out, then Show missed with his barbed wire baseball bat, Lashley speared him, and we had a new ECW Champion in bobby Lashley… All this met to clear hatred from the fans.

Nothing worked in this match, and it led to Heyman's downfall, the downfall of several guys involved in the whole saga (only Holly and Punk still have jobs with WWE), ECW's need to form a strategic alliance with Smackdown, and the gimmick match itself almost dying… It was a real kick in the pants for the match.

But luckily, it's getting a second chance. Two of them in fact.

Today- Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun!

For at No Way Out in a few weeks, there will be TWO Elimination Chamber matches.

On Smackdown, Batista, The Undertaker, MVP, Finlay, Big Daddy V and The Great Khali will fight in the Chamber to see who will get their hands on Edge at Wrestlemania for the World Heavyweight title. Although V and Khali might not even fit in the damm pods…

While on Raw, HHH will enter one of his matches, along with Shawn Michaels (whoa, déjà vu!), Chris Jericho (déjà vu all over again!), JBL (Hey, a new one!) Umaga and Jeff Hardy to see who will replace Cena in the Royal Rumble Winner's Spot at Wrestlemania, since Cena cashed in his shot early at No Way Out against Orton, and thus the winners of the two matches will fight at the Granddaddy.

2 times the carnage. Although really, given the lack of it at D2D, this will average out to one match's worth per PPV.

Conclusion

Nowadays, new matches tend to be violent. There are few ways to make new, exciting matches that don't involve new hardware, new weapons, new violent ways to win.

The Elimination Chamber is no exception.

However, unlike a lot of these new matches, the Chamber has managed to solidify itself as a viable, credible match, one that is seen as a good match by many, it's one that is looked forward to by a lot of people. It is a match that changes careers, that settles title runs, and that, above all, has an undisputed winner.

Which is good for WWE. I mean, do you know how much that thing must have cost?

And now, another sliver of a fractured view of life, as from the pen of Dave Lovelace...