10 Wrestlers Who Innovated New Stipulation Matches
6. Triple H - Elimination Chamber
The notion of Triple H not taking storyline credit for his real invention of the Elimination Chamber match is a sort of stirring but sobering gut-punch akin to finding out that Old Man Marley from Home Alone wasn't a small bean regarder.
This concept underscored Triple H's keen, manipulative intelligence, in addition to his ability of pushing something through in which he has a personal investment.
The Elimination Chamber match was his cover version, in effect, of WarGames - a match Vince never much fancied. It wasn't his own, which is always a consideration, but the cold financial reality, of the double ring set-up wasting valuable, expensive front row real estate, was the primary one. The Chamber match, a stunning triumph beyond those awkward, tentative tumbles onto the hard steel, adapted the concepts of a roofed cage, countdowns and wincing brutality. The spectacle wasn't quite the same, but the seemingly magnetic glass pods created a new layer of violence to the environment.
Ultimately, the match wasn't a huge draw - just 20,000 domestic buyers preferred it over the ailing King of the Ring format in 2002 - but it was cherished by enough hardcore fans to become an institution that almost invariably produced a belter.