Those Elimination Chamber waiting periods didn’t actually last 5 minutes

WWE claimed that the waiting periods inside the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match last night (Sun., Feb. 12, 2017) would each last 5 minutes. It’s time to see if the numbers bear that out.

The entire Elimination Chamber match lasted 34 minutes and 26 seconds (34m 26s). Here are all the relevant time stamps for yesterday’s lone chamber match:

0m 00s: Match begins with Cena and Styles
4m 45s: Timer reaches zero
4m 55s: Spotlight lands on Ambrose's pod
8m 57s: Timer reaches zero
9m 07s: Spotlight lands on Wyatt's pod
13m 52s: Timer reaches zero
14m 02s: Spotlight lands on Corbin's pod
18m 14s: Timer reaches zero, signifying Miz entering the match
18m 36s: Corbin eliminated
20m 42s: Ambrose eliminated
23m 29s: Miz eliminated
29m 07s: Cena eliminated
34m 26s: Styles eliminated / Wyatt wins

How well did WWE stick to the rule of 5-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 participant to enter the match.

The first timer reached zero at 4m 45s, and Ambrose’s pod was chosen 10 seconds later. Therefore this waiting period came up slightly short of the 5-minute goal, though if you decide to count those extra 10 seconds as part of it, it is within a reasonable range of the 5 minute goal.

It then took about 4m 02s for the next timer to reach zero, and another 10 seconds for the selection of Wyatt’s pod. This waiting period came nowhere close to satisfying the claim of 5-minute waiting periods, regardless of whether you count those additional 10 seconds or not.

Then 4m 45s lapsed until the next timer reached zero, and Corbin’s pod was chosen 10 seconds later. This waiting period exactly mirrored the first waiting period on both of these numbers.

The final timer then reached zero about 4m 12s after Corbin’s pod was chosen. Much like the second waiting period, this one didn’t even sniff 5 minutes in length.

It took 18m 14s for all the pods to open. It then took 16m 12s for the rest of the match to play out.

All 4 waiting periods fell short of the 5-minute goal, and this shaved about 2m 16s off the expected time for all 4 pods to open.

It’s possible this was done because the show was running long. The overall running time of this event clocked in at 3h 04m 42s; perhaps WWE was trying to keep things as close to 3 hours as possible.

There you have it, Cagesiders. Could you tell during the match that the 2nd and 4th waiting periods were much closer to 4 minutes than 5 minutes?