WWE: Ranking The 16 Elimination Chamber Matches

13. The "Goldberg" Chamber (Summerslam '03)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpQbnVNlZ1U Expectations were high when Goldberg's vignette aired during WrestleMania 19, but the execution never matched the hype. By and large, his run in the WWE was forgettable. He might very well have viewed the experience as an opportunity to cash in what name value he still had in wrestling before too much time had passed from his dominating WCW days. The second Elimination Chamber was the exception to the general rule that Goldberg and WWE did not mix. At least for that one night, he was used in the perfect way and came across as the star that he was brought in to be. The match had some serious obstacles to overcome. It was thrown together at the last minute when Triple H got injured and could not provide a healthy other half of a World Championship defense against Goldberg in a one-on-one scenario. So, Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Nash were recast into the Chamber, where the WWE could hide Goldberg's apparent weaknesses and the injured World titleholder. Luckily, the booking was superb, Michaels and Jericho carried the way, Orton gave an inspired performance, and the WWE found just the right roles for Nash, Trips, and Goldberg. It wound up being a well paced match that further built heat on Triple H for his eventual title loss. Not a great match, but a fun one...
Contributor
Contributor

"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition. Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.