FanPost

WWE Needs to Eliminate the Chamber

WWE.com

WWE will once again roll out the demonic structure known as the Elimination Chamber at tonight's (Sun., Feb. 25, 2018) pay-per-view (PPV) in Paradise, Nevada. As a fan of gimmick matches, there was a time when the Elimination Chamber absolutely thrilled me. What could possibly be better than wrestlers locked in pods, replacing the mats around the ring with steel, and encasing everything in a chain link dome? It was suspenseful, exciting, and dangerous.

The keyword, however, is "was."

Now, in it’s 21st iteration, the shine is gone and I see the Elimination Chamber for what it truly is: a higher potential for superstar injury, a structure that has very few "Wow" moments remaining, a PPV format that forces wrestlers into the situation instead of building a story for it, and an actual physical viewing distraction from the match for both in-person and television viewers alike. The time has come to eliminate the Chamber from the PPV lineup.

It’s actually kind of a bummer the way feelings have changed about the Elimination Chamber. It was once a modern and innovative spin on old classics like War Games and Hell in a Cell but has since been reduced to a sideshow attraction to try and hold viewership in between Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. The physical structure itself isn’t so much the problem as its regularity is. Having it on the books every year takes away some of the excitement and intrigue of the match. The Elimination Chamber (and Hell in a Cell for that matter) should be treated like surprise entrants in the Royal Rumble. Sure, you’d be excited, regardless, if someone told you that Stone Cold Steve Austin was going to be the number 30 entrant next year, but you’d be a helluva lot more excited if you didn’t know it was coming until you heard the glass break.

Matches like this have a lot more oomph attached to them when a storyline has been put in motion and it finalizes with the General Manager or one of the wrestlers proposing to settle things in one of the most challenging and physically tasking matches the company has to offer. On top of this, any time you have a match that requires so many participants, it becomes more difficult to present participants that all feel deserving of a potential WrestleMania main event. Three or four wrestlers could all make the argument to be deserving, but finding six or seven? I’m not so sure about that.

I have a solution though, and we all just saw how well it could work this past Monday.

On this week’s episode of Raw, the show began with a two-hour gauntlet match involving all seven competitors in this weekend’s Elimination Chamber match. It provided the viewers with a match type not commonly seen coupled with some amazing individual performances. On the flip side, it provided WWE with a very noticeable uptick in viewership. WWE should take note of this and run with it.

The Elimination Chamber needs to be replaced by The Gauntlet.

Turning the gauntlet match into its own PPV makes too much sense to turn down. First, take a look at the four tent pole events of the year (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series), all are based around pure wrestling instead of gimmicks.

(I should clarify that I’m referring to gimmick matches as being matches that are influenced by outside objects like tables, cages, objects on a pole, etc. I realize that the Royal Rumble is a bit of a "gimmick" match in the sense of it being so uniquely different from a heads up singles match, but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about here.)

WWE needs more PPVs set up with straight wrestling as the focus. We already have plenty of gimmick events with the likes of Hell in a Cell, TLC, Extreme Rules, and Money in the Bank. There isn’t a need for another one like Elimination Chamber. The tried and true practice of establishing storylines and providing exciting feuds or interesting stylistic match-ups needs to be put at the forefront of another PPV and The Gauntlet would do exactly that. Picture this: you can enjoy the pure wrestling of Rollins vs. Balor, while also enjoying the mismatch of speed and power with Balor vs. Strowman, and then finish up with a brutal powerhouse match-up of Strowman vs. Reigns all in a single match! It’s also an easy way to have friend vs. friend and friend vs. foe match-ups all in a single night.

Secondly, the build-up to The Gauntlet would be both easy to plan and exciting for the viewers. You could start by having qualifier matches to determine the 5-8 wrestlers that would be entering the gauntlet match. Once that happens, you could have something like a Beat The Clock week to determine the order of entry into the gauntlet. You could predetermine the entrants of the match and have them wrestle each other for position. You could have The Authority come out and punish the fan favorite by making them enter first or reward the heel by ensuring they enter in the final spot. You could use these lead-up weeks to not only establish participants and order, but to also establish specific rivalries within the gauntlet lineup. Can you imagine the emotion of Cena vs. Elias if Elias is the reason Cena had to enter the gauntlet at number one? The potential being provided by this setup is incredible.

Third, you wouldn’t even have to build much of a show around the main event match. This past week showed us that a gauntlet match can easily last two hours without having to deal with mid-match lulls. With the main event taking the meat of the PPV, there would really only be a need for two or three other matches. By trimming the fat, you’re left with a show that viewers want to watch the entirety of. Also, the gauntlet match makes it so you can do this without leaving a large number of Superstars off the card. The gauntlet match also provides the Superstars involved an opportunity for star-making performances. Just as we talk about the likes of Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and Rey Mysterio beating long odds to win the Royal Rumble, the same could be applied to entrants one and two of The Gauntlet if they were to survive all the way to the end. Look no further than Seth Rollins this past Monday to see how big of an impact this match could have on a wrestler’s momentum with the fans.

Finally, if you’re married to the idea of gimmick matches, they could be easily applied to The Gauntlet. How about an Extreme Gauntlet where each wrestler gets to bring a new weapon to the ring with them? How about a Tables Gauntlet where you only eliminate a wrestler by putting them through a table? How about when each wrestler is eliminated from The Gauntlet they stick around the outside of the ring to be lumberjacks? How about a Spin-the-Wheel Gauntlet where there is a different match stipulation with each new wrestler? There are endless possibilities for ways to spice up an already exciting match type.

Tonight, we’ll all watch the men's Elimination Chamber match with a curiosity of who is going on to wrestle Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. While that’s an exciting outcome, shouldn’t we be treated to being equally excited about the journey to get to that point? Unfortunately, I don’t expect the Elimination Chamber to take my breath away. In fact, I’m not even sure if it will take away the memory I have of this week’s Raw. It will merely be a speed bump on the Road to WrestleMania.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.