8 Things You Learn Re-Watching The First WWE Elimination Chamber Match

by John Bills

1. The Match Wasn’t Very Good

Kane Triple H Elimination Chamber 2002
WWE.com

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awarded the match ****1/4, but watching the bout back it is clear that Big Money Meltz must have been in a particularly giving mood. The first ever Elimination Chamber match went almost 40 minutes, and almost the entire thing was plodding and uninspired.

I expected much more from this match, especially when you take into account the men involved. Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels are two of the best of all time. Booker T was just about to settle into his best babyface run in WWE. Kane was still in the prime of his career, and Triple H was still great in the ring, despite the physical bloating.

What I got was a fairly humdrum affair, full of middling action and little in the way of invention. Much of this can be put down to the structure itself, which was unlike anything any of the six men had encountered at this point in their careers. Even so, you’d expect better.

The quality of the match had a lot to do with the apathy of the crowd, but it could also be put down to one of the worst years in the history of professional wrestling. The bubble had well and truly burst by the end of 2002, and no match displays this better than the very first Elimination Chamber bout.

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Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.