Match Times: WWE Elimination Chamber 2015 Edition

WWE's Elimination Chamber 2015 lasted for 2 hours 58 minutes and 28 seconds (2h 58m 28s). Here is a breakdown of the timing for every single second of the show, in chronological order.

The matches are in bold. The "pre-match" segments include video packages, entrances, ring introductions, and any verbal promos that occur right before a match officially begins. The "post-match" segments include any celebrations, replays, angles, attacks, or promos that occur right after a match is finished.

• 0m 20s: WWE's "Then, Now, Forever" opening
• 2m 00s: Video hyping Elimination Chamber 2015
• 0m 58s: Opening pyro as Cole welcomes you to Elimination Chamber 2015
• 8m 11s: Pre-match for Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 23m 38s: Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 1m 06s: Post-match for Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 0m 31s: Video - Please do not try this at home
• 0m 53s: Video promoting Money In The Bank 2015
• 0m 35s: Filler commentary on Money In The Bank 2015 and Rusev's injury
• 1m 22s: Coverage of Rusev's fractured foot
• 0m 58s: Backstage segment with Ziggler and Lana
• 2m 57s: Pre-match for Nikki vs Naomi vs Paige
• 6m 04s: Nikki vs Naomi vs Paige
• 1m 40s: Post-match for Nikki vs Naomi vs Paige
• 0m 16s: Commercial for Totino's Blasted Crust Rolls
• 0m 47s: Commercial for Swerved
• 0m 19s: Filler commentary
• 0m 11s: Plug for PPV theme song
• 7m 45s: Pre-match for Cena vs Owens
• 19m 56s: Cena vs Owens
• 3m 56s: Post-match for Cena vs Owens
• 1m 30s: Expert panel analysis with Renee, Booker T, Graves, and Saxton
• 2m 21s: Pre-match for Neville vs Dallas
• 8m 53s: Neville vs Dallas
• 1m 02s: Post-match for Neville vs Dallas
• 1m 30s: Backstage segment with Ambrose, Reigns, and Triple H
• 9m 39s: Pre-match for Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 25m 12s: Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 3m 25s: Post-match for Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 0m 44s: Commercial for Austin's podcast with Heyman
• 0m 56s: Video promoting Money In The Bank 2015
• 0m 15s: Cole talks about Corpus Christi
• 0m 33s: Filler commentary
• 0m 45s: Replay of Owens defeating Cena
• 1m 12s: Two matches announced for Money In The Bank 2015
• 7m 19s: Pre-match for Rollins vs Ambrose
• 21m 49s: Rollins vs Ambrose
• 7m 00s: Post-match for Rollins vs Ambrose

Match Times

The 6 matches combined for a total time of 1h 45m 32s. This means that 59.1% of the show was devoted to bell-to-bell action.  This is the 6th highest percentage in this category out of the 30 WWE events in my data set, which begins with Royal Rumble 2013.

Here is the sorted list of match times for Elimination Chamber 2015.  This also includes where each match time ranks out of all 213 matches in my data set.

• 25m 12s: Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match (17th longest out of 213)
  
• 23m 38s: Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match (23rd)
  
• 21m 49s: Rollins vs Ambrose (34th)
  
• 19m 56s: Cena vs Owens (48th)
  
• 8m 53s: Neville vs Dallas (137th)
  
• 6m 04s: Nikki vs Naomi vs Paige (186th)
  

This was the first special event that Rusev did not accumulate match time on since WrestleMania 30.  His streak lasted for 14 consecutive events.

Elimination Chamber 2015 included more total match time than the 4-hour WrestleMania 31 extravaganza.

Timing the Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match

Here are all the relevant time stamps for the Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match:

0m 00s: Match begins with Lucha Dragons and The Ascension
4m 00s: Timer reaches zero
4m 11s: Spotlight lands on Cesaro and Kidd
8m 18s: Timer reaches zero
8m 28s: Spotlight lands on Los Matadores
10m 22s: Los Matadores are eliminated by The Ascension
11m 18s: Lucha Dragons are eliminated by The Ascension
12m 29s: Timer reaches zero
12m 39s: Spotlight lands on Prime Time Players
13m 28s: The Ascension are eliminated by Prime Time Players
16m 41s: Timer reaches zero for New Day
18m 27s: Cesaro and Kidd are eliminated by Prime Time Players
23m 28s: Prime Time Players are eliminated by New Day

The survival times for all 6 teams are as follows:

• 14m 16s: Cesaro and Kidd
• 13m 28s: The Ascension
• 11m 18s: Lucha Dragons
• 10m 59s: Prime Time Players
• 6m 57s: New Day
• 1m 54s: Los Matadores

These 6 survival times add up to 58m 52s.

How well did WWE stick to the rule of 4-minute waiting intervals? I am assuming that the clock is paused during the brief periods where the spotlight is circling each pod as it is about to select a new team to enter the match.

The first timer reached zero at 4m 00s, which is perfect timing. The spotlight landed on Cesaro and Kidd about 11 seconds later.

It then took about 4m 07s for the next timer to reach zero, and another 10 seconds for the selection of Los Matadores.

Then 4m 01s lapsed until the next timer reached zero, and 10 seconds later the Prime Time Players officially entered the match.

The final timer then reached zero about 4m 02s later.

It took 16m 41s for all pods to be opened. It then took another 6m 47s for the remainder of the match to play out.

Timing the Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match

Here are all the relevant time stamps for the Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match:

0m 00s: Match begins with Barrett and Ziggler
4m 00s: Timer reaches zero
4m 09s: Spotlight lands on R-Truth
7m 32s: Henry enters the match when his pod is broken
8m 16s: Timer reaches zero
8m 25s: Spotlight lands on The Ryback
11m 04s: Barrett is eliminated by R-Truth
12m 16s: Timer reaches zero for Sheamus but he is stuck inside his pod
13m 58s: R-Truth is eliminated by The Ryback
15m 39s: Sheamus finally leaves his pod
17m 18s: Henry is eliminated by Sheamus
20m 25s: Ziggler is eliminated by Sheamus
25m 12s: Sheamus is eliminated by The Ryback

The survival times for all 6 superstars are as follows:

• 20m 25s: Dolph Ziggler
• 16m 47s: The Ryback
• 12m 56s: Sheamus (this includes the 3m 23s when he was stuck inside his pod)
• 11m 04s: King Barrett
• 9m 49s: R-Truth
• 9m 46s: Mark Henry

These 6 survival times add up to 1h 20m 47s.

The survival time for Sheamus would actually rank in last place if the 3m 23s when he was stuck inside his pod was not counted.

How well did WWE stick to the rule of 4-minute waiting intervals? I am once again assuming that the clock is paused during the brief periods where the spotlight is circling each pod as it is about to select a new participant to enter the match.

The first timer reached zero at 4m 00s, which is perfect timing. The spotlight landed on R-Truth about 9 seconds later.

It then took about 4m 07s for the next timer to reach zero, and another 9 seconds for the selection of The Ryback.

The final timer then reached zero about 3m 51s later.

It took 12m 16s for all three pods to be selected. It then took another 12m 56s for the remainder of the match to play out.

It is tempting to think that WWE busted Henry's pod open early in order to make the match shorter.  But the fact that it actually took longer for the match to wrap up (12m 56s) after all pods were selected then it did to actually select all the pods (12m 16s) doesn't suggest that WWE was trying to shorten the match.  If anything, this suggests that Henry's pod may have opened early by accident.

Pre-match Segments

The pre-match segments combined for a total time of 38m 12s, which is 21.4% of the show.  This is the 19th highest percentage in this category out of the 30 events in my data set.

Here is the sorted list of pre-match segment time for all 6 matches:

• 9m 39s: Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 8m 11s: Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 7m 45s: Cena vs Owens
• 7m 19s: Rollins vs Ambrose
• 2m 57s: Nikki vs Naomi vs Paige
• 2m 21s: Neville vs Dallas

Elimination Chamber 2015 included 21 separate pre-match superstar entrances.  These 21 entrances took up a total time of 24m 10s.  Here is the sorted list of these 21 entrance times:

• 1m 48s: New Day
• 1m 44s: John Cena
• 1m 22s: Ryback
• 1m 18s: Seth Rollins with Kane and J & J Security
• 1m 16s: Kevin Owens
• 1m 14s: Prime Time Players (with a 0m 14s intro of Cole's announce team)
  
• 1m 14s: Paige
• 1m 13s: Bo Dallas (including his 0m 43s promo)
  
• 1m 13s: Mark Henry
• 1m 12s: Cesaro and Kidd with Natalya
• 1m 06s: The Ascension
• 1m 06s: Sheamus
• 1m 06s: R-Truth
• 1m 02s: Neville
• 1m 02s: King Barrett
• 0m 59s: Nikki Bella (with a 0m 10s plug for Totino's)
  
• 0m 57s: Lucha Dragons
• 0m 57s: Dolph Ziggler
• 0m 55s: Los Matadores with El Torito (with a 0m 08s intro of the Spanish announce team)
  
• 0m 44s: Dean Ambrose
• 0m 42s: Naomi (with a 0m 16s plug for Hulu)
  

In addition to entrances, the pre-match segments also featured 2 extended video packages.  The video packages for Cena versus Owens (2m 57s) and Rollins versus Ambrose (3m 18s) add up to 6m 15s.

So when you combine the 21 pre-match entrances (24m 10s) and the 2 dedicated video packages (6m 15s) that accounts for 30m 25s of the overall pre-match segment time for the show.

The last three special events have had nearly identical amounts of pre-match segment time.  Extreme Rules 2015 had 38m 09s of pre-match segment time, Payback 2015 included 38m 08s of pre-match segment time, and Elimination Chamber 2015 had 38m 12s of pre-match segment time.

John Cena's pre-match segment time of 7m 45s was his shortest time in this category since his match with Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series 2013.

Post-match Segments

The post-match segments combined for a total time of 18m 09s, which is 10.2% of the show.  This is the 14th highest percentage in this category out of the 30 events in my data set.

Here is the sorted list of the post-match segment time for all 6 matches:

• 7m 00s: Rollins vs Ambrose
• 3m 56s: Cena vs Owens
• 3m 25s: Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 1m 40s: Nikki vs Naomi vs Paige
• 1m 06s: Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 1m 02s: Neville vs Dallas

No post-match replays were shown for the Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match.

The post-match segment for Cena versus Owens included a 1m 08s in-ring promo from Owens.

After Ryback won his Elimination Chamber match, Daniel Bryan was in the ring for about 1m 26s to present Ryback with the Intercontinental Championship.

Miscellaneous Segments

That leaves about 9.3% (16m 35s) of the show for everything else.  This is the 27th highest percentage in this category out of the 30 events in my data set.

2m 28s of this time was used on multiple backstage segments featuring superstars such as Ziggler, Lana, Ambrose, Reigns, and Triple H.

3m 01s was spent promoting Money In The Bank 2015.

The remaining miscellaneous time went to things like the expert panel segment, coverage of Rusev's injury, filler commentary, hype for WWE Network shows and podcasts, and so forth.

There was a 1h 25m 09s time span from the start of the pre-match segment for Cena's match until the conclusion of the post-match segment for Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match.  In that time, only 3m 00s was spent on Miscellaneous segments.  WWE pretty much lined up those 3 matches (Cena versus Owens, Neville versus Dallas, IC Chamber) in a row with barely any filler in between.

Summary

Here is a listing of how much total show time was allocated for each match when you add up all 3 components: pre-match time, match time, and post-match time.

• 38m 16s: Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match (21.4% of total show time)
  
• 36m 08s: Rollins vs Ambrose (20.2%)
  
• 32m 55s: Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match (18.4%)
  
• 31m 37s: Cena vs Owens (17.7%)
  
• 12m 16s: Neville vs Dallas (6.9%)
  
• 10m 41s: Nikki vs Naomi vs Paige (6.0%)
  

And here is a look at the "Match Time Percentage" for each match.  For any given match, this percentage shows how the match time compares to the combined pre-match and post-match segment time.  For some context, it's good to know that the median result here over the last couple of years is roughly 63%.

• 72.4%: Neville vs Dallas
• 71.8%: Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 65.9%: Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber Match
• 63.0%: Cena vs Owens
• 60.4%: Rollins vs Ambrose
• 56.8%: Nikki vs Naomi vs Paige

Elimination Chamber 2015 wasn't available to purchase on Pay-Per-View, yet WWE still kept it timed in a 3-hour window just like a typical PPV.  It will be interesting to see if WWE is willing to push that boundary for future WWE Network exclusive events.

This event included more match time than normal thanks to the Elimination Chamber gimmick, which guaranteed that the mid-card title matches would have more time allocated to them than usual.  As a result, WWE delivered nearly 4 separate 20+ minute matches on the card.

Final Results for Elimination Chamber 2015

Match - 59.1% - 1h 45m 32s

Pre-match - 21.4% - 38m 12s

Post-match - 10.2% - 18m 09s

Miscellaneous - 9.3% - 16m 35s