10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE Elimination Chamber

9. The Match Was Originally Falls Count Anywhere

Triple H Elimination Chamber
WWE.com

Anywhere within the structure, obviously.

It’s not something that was loudly trumpeted, but originally eliminations could take place both within the ring inside the Chamber and on the extended, elevated steel apron that the old Chamber provided.

In 2012, the rules were quietly changed to make it so that only pinfalls or submissions inside the ropes would count. This has the effect of making the match slightly less lawless, detracting a little from the whole post-apocalyptic vibe of the gimmick… but only a little.

Truthfully, that whole aspect of the Chamber’s rules wasn’t really played up in the action laid out in the ring, either. Only twice did eliminations ever take place on the apron - Undertaker pinned Finlay outside the ropes at No Way Out in 2008, and CM Punk was eliminated by John Cena in 2011’s Elimination Chamber on the steel).

It’s quite likely that the rules were changed because someone pointed out the obvious - that if the ring itself is no longer the boundary for the match, then things like rope breaks make no sense at all. Why would the referee break a hold because someone reached the ropes, if a submission can take place outside of the ropes? And rope breaks, of course, have been a factor in every Elimination Chamber match since the beginning.

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Contributor

Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett