On March 1st, 2025, the WWE landscape was shaken to its core. John Cena, lifelong soldier to the WWE brand and company, turned heel after winning the Elimination Chamber match.
He would then beat down the Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes with the help of the Rock and Travis Scott. The moment will last forever in the minds of WWE fans, but the aftermath was underwhelming.
In an interview with Bill Simmons, Cena addressed the fans’ response to his turn to the dark side.
“I think a lot of people were wondering what would happen if I turned heel, and then when I did it left a taste in people’s mouth that they didn’t like it,”
Cena continued,
“I wanted a music change, I wanted a uniform change.”
He added that the reason none of it happened was due to the limitations of his schedule and how the fans steered the ship back to him turning face a day before SummerSlam.
Cena’s heel turn was one of the greatest moments in Elimination Chamber history. So, where did the concept for the Elimination Chamber originate, and how did WWE superstars feel about it?
The man behind the creation of the unforgiving structure was Triple H. He wanted to have a match that was a hybrid between Wargames and the Royal Rumble.
Triple H drew the concept on the napkin, where four people stood in pods waiting to enter the match after an interval. Then, a winner would be declared when only one person remained standing.
Let us look at who was behind the creation of one of WWE’s most brutal structures.
The Making of a Monster:
How The Elimination Chamber Was Constructed
The modern chamber is made by Atomic Designs, which does other features for the WWE as well. This structure is 26 ft high, two tons, and almost two miles of chain link with better visibility for the aerial cam.
Rather than being circular, it was square. Also, LED lights line the corners of the structure. The changes were made with the safety of the superstars in mind, as well as structural limitations from arenas.
The original structure was co-designed by Jason Robinson and manufactured in Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to The WWE E-Fed Wiki, here is a breakdown of the chamber:
“The structure is made of black-painted steel with an outer structure of 16 frames, each weighing 300 pounds (140 kg).
The chamber is 16 ft (4.9 m) high and 36 ft (11 m) in diameter, and weighs a total of 16 short tons (15,000 kg), 10 of which consists of steel.
Each inner chamber consists of three large steel framed sheets of plexiglass, costing US$225 per sheet. The chains that surround the chamber stretch 2 mi (3.2 km) long and weigh 6 short tons (5,400 kg).”
A 50 ft (15 m) flatbed truck is needed to transport the chamber. Assembly in the arena takes eight hours to complete, and eight motors are used to suspend the structure over the ring before each event. When not in use, the structure is stored at a dock in Newark, New Jersey.”
With a design in the works, General Manager Eric Biscoff announced on Monday Night Raw who was going to compete inside the Elimination Chamber at Survivor Series.
The six participants fighting for the WWE Championship were Chris Jericho, Booker T, RVD, Kane, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H.
The Elimination Chamber was a product of the Ruthless Aggression Era, and was set to happen inside Madison Square Garden. With that being said, what did the creator Triple H think about it?
“You’d hear we’re building it the whole thing, and the next time I saw was MSG where I walked out and [thought holy ****,
– Triple H said.
Another member of the first match, Rod Van Dam offered his insight on the structure.
“Thinking of new ideas that maybe I can pull off that I’ll have an advantage over the guys. I think that this offers a lot of room for imagination”.
The first Elimination Chamber match lasted forty minutes, and Michaels was the victor. Originally, the Elimination Chamber took place at No Way Out until 2010, when the match became its own PLE.
Since 2002, there have been 35 matches taken place inside the Elimination Chamber. While Randy Orton has the most appearances at nine, Triple H and John Cena are tied with four victories.
Chris Jericho holds the most eliminations with ten, followed by the Viper at eight. The superstar who has made the most appearances is Liv Morgan, but she has yet to win one and wasn’t featured in the first women’s EC match.
When it comes to eliminating the field, two superstars hold the honors of taking out all their competitors. Braun Strowman in 2018, and Shayna Baszler in 2020.
When it came to Shayna Baszler’s performance inside the Elimination Chamber, the winner turned down the initial plan for the match.
“I think the initial pitch was to like Brock Lesnar, my what through, where I think the wanted me in first and then I just go one by one… the fans are going to hate that,”
– Shayna Baszler said to Catch Club via Fightful.
Out of the 35 matchups, almost two-thirds have been for the title. Three of those were either for vacant belts or inaugural, which was the case for the Women’s Tag Titles won by Sasha Banks and Bayley. Upon winning the titles, fans chanted “You deserve it” as they both expressed gratitude.
“Nobody knows how hard we fought to get these,” Banks said, “We do this for everyone in the bank, this women’s division…. Only the beginning of more change to come.”
Little did Sasha and Bayley know that the Women’s Tag Team titles were going to become the company’s most stacked division.
Almost every belt WWE has to offer has been competed for inside the structure, except the Cruiserweight, Hardcore, 24/7, and Speed titles.
One of the most memorable moments happened at New Year’s Resolution, where Edge cashed in on John Cena to become the new champion. Carlito was the last one eliminated, and in an interview with R3 Jonah, reflected on the incident.’
“When they start keeping stuff from the boys, cause I remember the finish was a roll-up,”
“That’s a little anti-climatic. Then Edge’s music hits. Think it was the first time somebody cashed in the Money in the Bank.”
Fast forward to 2022, when the Elimination Chamber match took place at just under 15 minutes. Bobby Lashley was the champ and had to be written off due to having a legit shoulder injury.
What was not planned was Brock entering the competition early. There was a production error, and Lesnar entered to decimate his opponents. He would go on to win the match.
The next man to win the match is Austin Theory, who defended the United States Championship inside the EC. This was followed up by Drew McIntyre and John Cena. On the women’s side of things, Asuka, Becky Lynch, and Bianca Belair won their respective matchups.
The Elimination Chamber was an innovation the WWE experimented with to bring eyes to the product. Its merciless structure inflicts pain on those who compete inside it. This chamber was used from 2002 to 2014, before the structure was reconfigured in 2017.
The Reimagining of a Monster: How the all-new Elimination Chamber was constructed
For the 2026 Elimination Chamber, the men would compete for an opportunity to face Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania.
Meanwhile, the women will compete for either championship, as Liv Morgan has yet to decide who she will face on the grandest stage of them all.
