WWE Elimination Chamber: The 10 Best Final Two In History
- Feb 18, 2023
- 8 min read
With Elimination Chamber coming round this Saturday, there’s plenty of reason to look forward to this year’s show. Namely, Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, but also the Elimination Chamber itself.
Ever since Eric Bischoff introduced the concept at Survivor Series 2002, the Elimination Chamber has proven to be one of the most successful and popular gimmick bouts in WWE history. Prior to Elimination Chamber 2023, there’ve been 30 Chamber Matches, and there are many all-time classic contests to choose from.
But what in particular makes an Elimination Chamber so exciting? The line-up of participants? The stakes of a championship victory or title shot at WrestleMania? The innovative spots? The story as a whole from start-to-finish? All of these, certainly! But the icing on the cake is when after four eliminations, we are down to two spent gladiators, fighting tooth-and-nail to conquer the last hurdle and ensure ultimate victory.
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The story told by the surviving participants can be a match all by itself. An exciting story that can truly end the Elimination Chamber match on an epic high. With that said, here are the 10 best final two participants in the entire history of the Elimination Chamber Match!
10. AJ Styles Vs. Bray Wyatt – Elimination Chamber 2017
It was yet another excellent Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship on this SmackDown PPV in 2017, but the final moments took a very surprising turn after thirty-minutes of top-notch action, when Bray Wyatt shockingly eliminated then-champion John Cena! Leaving the Eater of Worlds to face-off against ‘The Phenomenal’ AJ Styles.
It was a rare meeting between two of WWE’s most-popular stars, and their styles clashed (pun intended!) very well indeed for the final five-minutes of action. Notable for AJ’s thrilling offence and Bray’s character-work and brutal blows, there were some exciting near-falls, and in yet another major surprise, Bray Wyatt countered the Phenomenal Forearm into Sister Abigail to win the match and his only WWE Championship. And the world rejoiced…for he now had the whole world in his hands…
9.Sasha Banks & Bayley Vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville – Elimination Chamber 2019
Fans & critics can say what they want about the booking & prestige of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships these last few years. But no one can deny that things got off to a great start at Elimination Chamber 2019, when all the ladies produced a terrific chamber match, and showed why the belts were a prize worth fighting over. With these two teams battling from the very-start to the very end!
The Women’s Chamber Match featured some genuinely exciting near-falls in the final moments; such as Sasha hitting a Backstabber on Sonya, and Bayley then hitting a Bayley-To-Belly, with Mandy breaking up the pin at the last possible moment! There was brawling atop of the chamber pods, another great near-fall when Mandy hit the Wings of Love on Sasha, and in the end, with Bailey hurt, Sasha avoided a spear from Sonya (which took out her own partner!), and Sasha applied the Bank Statement to win the titles for the Boss ’N’ Hug Connection! Sasha & Bayley would go on to be the best WWE Women’s Tag Champs of all-time, and Mandy & Sonya showed the potential they’d realise years later.
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8. Triple H vs. Undertaker – No Way Out 2009
With six SmackDown superstars kicking things off at No Way Out 2009, the Elimination Chamber for the WWE Championship began with a real shocker when defending-champ Edge was the first participant to be eliminated! With the playing field left wide-open, old rivals Triple H and the Undertaker were eventually the only two left.
As you’d expect, it was another exciting tussle between the two legends. Chokeslams, spinebusters, Tombstones & Pedigrees, rope-breaks and kick-outs galore! What more could you expect from The Deadman and The Game? In the end, Triple H scored a second Pedigree to finally put Taker down and capture his eighth WWE Championship!
7. Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan – Elimination Chamber 2014
Daniel Bryan’s quest to defeat The Authority and take his rightful place as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion was the greatest storyline going for WWE since the summer of 2013. Plagued with a shoulder injury and The Authority determined to crush him, Daniel nevertheless entered the Chamber, competing for well over thirty-minutes and making it down to the final two against reigning champ Randy Orton… again.
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Selling like a champ, fighting like a champ, Daniel Bryan’s never-ending quest was the heart and soul of this Chamber match. As always, we DESPERATELY WANTED to see him win. And the result was an exciting, thrilling climax, with Daniel kicking out of everything Randy (and Corporate Kane) could throw at him. And Bryan came SO CLOSE to winning…! But alas, the odds were too much for him and Orton retained again. Still, we can all take solace in knowing what happened at WrestleMania 30.
6. Undertaker vs. Batista – No Way Out 2008
Ah, these two legends…they had some wicked battles, didn’t they? Undertaker vs. Batista was the feud of 2007 with so many hard-hitting classics over the World Heavyweight Championship. And in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber at No Way Out 2008, it was yet another cracking slugfest that they gave us.
Both Taker and Dave worked serious overtime on this night, being selected to start the match, fighting tooth-and-nail, eliminating the likes of Great Khali and Big Daddy V, surviving MVP and Finlay, to being the final two gladiators! Amazingly, they fought-on! Kick-out after kick-out! Tombstones, chokeslams, spinebusters & Batista Bombs! Eventually, the Undertaker was able to prevail over one of his greatest rivals; nailing a Tombstone Piledriver to win the match and secure a WrestleMania 24 showdown with Edge for the World Title.
5. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy – No Way Out 2008
The second Elimination Chamber Match of the night main-evented this show. It was another belter indeed! With Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy’s star on the rise as a main-eventer, The Charismatic Enigma wanted another WWE Title shot…and so did the Game, who was equally determined to get back on top!
Both Jeff and Triple H made it to the final two, with Hardy once more keen to upset the Cerebral Assassin as he had done on more than one occasion. Helmsley and Hardy went at it again for five exciting minutes, with their chemistry being the cherry-on-top to what had been an excellent match. Jeff incredibly kicked out of the Pedigree! But ultimately his efforts were in vain after a failed Twist Of Fate on a steel chair, and Triple H delivering a second Pedigree onto that same chair to go to WrestleMania 24. Nonetheless, Jeff Hardy proved his destiny was inevitable.
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4. Daniel Bryan vs. Santino Marella – Elimination Chamber 2012
On paper, this match-up doesn’t make sense! It shouldn’t have happened! Yet it did! And it was bloody amazing!
Originally, Randy Orton was scheduled to compete in this SmackDown Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Title. But Orton had suffered a concussion prior to the event and was forced to withdraw. Santino won a battle-royal to qualify for the vacant spot, and surprised everyone by not only eliminating Intercontinental Champ Cody Rhodes, but also capitalising on a pinfall-opportunity to eliminate Wade Barrett! Making it down to the FINAL TWO!
World Champ Daniel Bryan laughed that Santino had somehow made it this far! And yet Bryan – like all of us! – underestimated Santino, when he actually nailed a Sambo Throw, withstood Bryan’s kicks, and even nailed the Cobra to almost score the three-count and become World Heavyweight Champion! Can you even begin to imagine!? It was exciting, incredible action, with the fans screaming for Santino to win! Sadly, Daniel Bryan’s LeBell Lock spelt doom for Marella’s dreams…but what a genuinely exciting climax it was! The greatest in-ring performance of Santino’s career!
3. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 2002
The first-ever Elimination Chamber at Survivor Series 2002 set the standard for all these matches. It was brutal, innovative, pioneering and simply awesome. It remains one of the greatest chamber matches in history, thanks to the performance of all six legends who competed in this bout. Especially these two.
With their legendary bout at SummerSlam still fresh in fans’ minds – and the fallout having played a big factor into hyping the Chamber match for Survivor Series – both Shawn Michaels and Triple H were at it again! Triple H had begun the bout and suffered a damaged throat from RVD’s Frog Splash from top of the pod, yet was somehow wrestling another twenty-minutes afterward! Including these amazing final moments! Hunter catapulting Shawn through a pod! HBK nailing a flying elbow from atop of the pod! A Pedigree kick-out! And finally, Sweet Chin Music to bag the World Heavyweight Title in Madison Square Garden! WHAT a comeback story for the Heartbreak Kid!
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2. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston – Elimination Chamber 2019
Times had changed in 2019 with Daniel Bryan now back on top as WWE Champion, and with Vince McMahon now firmly behind him. The NEW Daniel Bryan started off the match and made it to the final two…and Kofi Kingston had now captured the hearts of the WWE fans. Kofi-Mania was now running wild! And we wanted Kofi to win!
This final-two sequence was simply amazing! After another marathon performance from both men, Bryan and Kingston closed out this Elimination Chamber match with an exciting rollercoaster of a showdown. A thrilling epic that tugged at the heartstrings, and brought Kofi so close to realising his dream of becoming WWE Champion. After so many exciting near-falls and back-and-forth excitement, Kofi went for an all-or-nothing splash off the top of the pod! He missed! And Daniel triumphed with the running knee. Kofi may have faltered on this night, but like others before him, his coronation was inevitable.
1. Edge vs. Rey Mysterio – No Way Out 2009 & Elimination Chamber 2011
These two legends… two of the SmackDown Six. Great friends, former Tag Team Champions, even better rivals…they’ve both faced each other twice in the closing moments in an Elimination Chamber. And both times, their conflict has been unmatched in the Chamber’s history.
The first-time round, Edge main evented No Way Out 2009 after losing the WWE Title earlier on in the evening. After assaulting poor Kofi Kingston and taking his place, Edge made it down to the final-two with Rey and they just tore the house down! After so much exhilarating action and amazing sequences, Rey came so close to bagging the World Heavyweight Title, only for Edge to dash his dreams with a spear. And shock the world once again!
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In 2011 when they met again in the Chamber, Edge and Rey actually started the bout and closed it once again; absolutely spent after all they’d endured, the two friends/rivals reminded us yet again why they rank highly among the most thrilling wrestlers of all-time. Why they were still the elite of SmackDown at the time, in another bout that could’ve gone either way. Edge ultimately secured the World Title again, but for being amazing final two Elimination Chamber participants against each other TWICE… Edge and Rey Mysterio truly top this list!
What are your favourite Top 10 Final-Two Participants in the Elimination Chamber? Please let us know in the comments below! Hope you all enjoy Elimination Chamber 2023 on Saturday! See you next week!
Written by:
mrdcwood
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