10 Biggest Surprises In WWE Elimination Chamber History

Back in 2012, the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship hardly had the most inspiring of line-ups.

Daniel Bryan defended against a cast of challengers that featured just two former world champions, one of whom was the Great Khali, and resident class clown Santino Marella had even been thrown into the mix. And yet, it was Marella who almost produced the upset of all upsets in one of the most dramatic near-falls of recent times.

A pedestrian match looked to be heading for a routine conclusion until Marella eliminated Wade Barrett to make it the final two. Suddenly the crowd began to dream. If Marella could somehow overcome Bryan, he’d be heading to WrestleMania as the world champion.

It was definitely a long shot, but when Bryan missed a diving headbutt and Marella signalled for the Cobra, the arena came unglued. The Cobra connected and laid Bryan out, and that dream was becoming a reality. Unfortunately for those in attendance though, Bryan kicked out, promptly applied the Lebell Lock and, after a brave struggle, forced Marella to tap.

To turn this match around like that was surprising enough, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted Marella would come so close to scoring the upset.