8 Baffling Elimination Chamber Participants
The Elimination Chamber is upon us. A revamped version of the barbaric billion ton demon butcher’s nightmare from hell, or whatever they’re coining it these days, will clear the path for a bunch of Smackdown’s Wrestlemania storylines. There are a host of Chamber debutants this year, but everyone, apart from the arguable exception of Baron Corbin, merit a place fighting for the WWE Championship inside the steel cage on acid. However, Corbin is far from the oddest participant to have been included in a match of this sort of calibre, so let’s take a look at the most surprising entrants into the Chamber.
Chris Masters
Looking back over his time in WWE, it’s astonishing how often The Masterpiece was inserted into title situations. And not just Intercontinental or US Titles. Actual WWE Championship matches. Masters had the type of figure that leaves Vince McMahon frothing greedily from the mouth, but his in ring ability and overall lack of charisma were high hurdles to ever achieving greatness in WWE. Added to his incessant flaunting of the Wellness Policy, it’s remarkable that he found his way into an Elimination Chamber match at New Year’s Revolution, 2006. Next to John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle and Kane, Masters sticks out like a ridiculously over muscled sore thumb.
Test
Everyone has a wrestler they feel a strange and inexplicable affinity for. Mine was always Test. For no other reason than that he was massive and looked like a happy gopher. Despite managing to amass 6 championships, Test’s career felt very much like the ‘nearly was’ or ‘could’ve been’, in part thanks to all but disappearing after losing the hand of Stephanie McMahon and paving the way for Triple H’s mega rocket to WWE legend status. The former T&A member found himself in the Elimination Chamber at December To Dismember in 2006 and was found dead less than three years later at the terrifyingly sad age of 33. Whenever you get angry at the fact that WWE won’t let Daniel Bryan wrestle again, just spare a thought for Test’s family and the severe CTE attributed to his death.
No Way Out 2008
Drawing ourselves away from the above morbidity, the entrants in the Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out in 2008 must be mentioned as a whole entity. Rather than fighting for a title, the winner would receive at World Heavyweight Championship bout at Wrestlemania. Considering that’s a huge main event spot, you’d think the participants in the Chamber should be worthy of such positioning. Batista? Sure. Undertaker? Of course. The Great Khali? Please no. MVP? What? Finlay? Err… Big Daddy V? Ok this is getting ridiculous.
Vladimir Kozlov
Just one year later, the Moscow Muler was locked inside a pod ready to fight for the WWE Championship. His initial run potentially justified this place, but the legit Sambo champion cascaded down the card to eventually be paired in a comedy act with Santino Marella which is what he’ll best be remembered for. Still, Kozlov was a nice stop gap before the arrival of Rusev, which is essentially the same gimmick, but after a hefty level up.
Mike Knox
Edge, Cena, Kane, Mysterio, Jericho and… Mike Fucking Knox. That isn’t acceptable.
R-Truth
Now there have been points in Truth’s career where you’d understand his inclusion in such an illustrious match. The guy is bafflingly watchable, and was so even before his relegation to comedic idiot. If he’d only entered into one Chamber match, it’d be unfair to place him on this list. But he hasn’t been in just one. Or even two. He’s been in four. FOUR. Only Cena, Triple H, Jericho, Randy Orton and Kane have surpassed that total, which is clinically insane. Kudos to R-Trizzle.
Santino Marella
Call me crazy, but this one consistently pops into my head when contemplating all those metal chains and glass pods. The Milan Miracle was always a phenomenal underdog character, and all credit to both WWE and the man himself for making us believe that he could actually win the big one. Remember when we thought he’d won the Rumble? Santino Marella, an underrated hero of men.
Tag Team Elimination Chamber 2015
Whose idea was it to put 6 tag teams, plus a bull mascot and trombone player, inside a cage? On paper, it sounded great, but in practice having 16 competitors made it all a bit of a mess. Nevertheless, it means that a whole bunch of men will go down in history as having competed inside an Elimination Chamber. Men who, without the tag team affiliation, would never get anywhere near this sort of match. Konnor, Viktor, The Lucha Dragons, Primo, Epico, Darren Young and Titus O’Neil. In ten years, that’ll be a who’s who of who?
