Ranking EVERY WWE Elimination Chamber Match From Worst To Best
21. 2009 (Smackdown)
Despite a star-studded line-up including The Undertaker, Triple H and The Big Show, the WWE Title match at the 'No Way Out' pay-per-view peaked in the first few minutes with an innovative twist on the concept, and struggled to recover from the initial shocker.
Entering as defending champion, Edge had to start the match against former titleholder Jeff Hardy, but in a legitimate surprise, got caught with an inside cradle from a spear attempt less than three minutes into the match. The pinfall turned the match upside down, guaranteeing a new WWE Champion and robbing 'The Rated-R Superstar' of his precious prize.
It also added tremendous suspense to the second Chamber match on the card, as Edge desperately attempted to get back into a WrestleMania main event (more on that later). However, despite the certainty of a new champion, the match simply had nowhere to go afterwards.
Vladimir Kozlov and The Big Show were comfortably dispatched, and the anticlimactic departure of sentimental favourite Jeff Hardy left the crowd apathetic to the final stand-off between Triple H and The Undertaker.
A victory for Triple H would ultimately see the title itself leave Smackdown, as the dying embers of the original Brand Extension were extinguished further to promote tepid WrestleMania 25 title feuds on both shows.