The 2022 Elimination Chamber (; known as No Escape in Germany) was a professional wrestling premium live event (PLE) produced by the American company WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the 12th Elimination Chamber event and took place on Saturday, February 19, 2022, at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and aired live at 8:00 p.m. Arabia Standard Time (12:00 p.m. Eastern Time). The event centered on the Elimination Chamber match, a type of roofed steel cage that surrounds the ring and ringside area with no disqualifications; the objective is to eliminate all other opponents either by pinfall or submission with championship implications at stake.
This was the seventh event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030, which subsequently made it WWE's first previously-established event to take place in the country as well as WWE's first Saudi Arabian event held on a Saturday, as they were previously held on Thursdays or Fridays. It would also be the first Elimination Chamber event to take place outside of the United States, the first held on a Saturday, and the first to livestream on Peacock in the United States and Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, following the shutdown of the WWE Network in those respective markets in April 2021 and January 2022. This was also the first Elimination Chamber event to be branded as a "premium live event", a term the company introduced at the start of the year to refer to its events airing on traditional pay-per-view and via WWE's livestreaming platforms.
Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. The event featured two Elimination Chamber matches, one each for the men and women, but with both held for Raw. In the main event, Brock Lesnar won the men's eponymous match to win the WWE Championship by last eliminating Austin Theory; during the match, defending champion Bobby Lashley was removed due to a "concussion protocol". This made Lesnar the first and only wrestler to win both the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber matches within the same year. The women's match was won by Bianca Belair, earning a Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 38. In other prominent matches, Becky Lynch defeated Lita to retain the Raw Women's Championship, and in the opening bout, Roman Reigns defeated Goldberg to retain SmackDown's Universal Championship, a matchup that was originally supposed to have taken place at WrestleMania 36 in April 2020 but with Goldberg defending the title before the COVID-19 pandemic changed those plans.
Production
Background
Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling premium live event (PLE) first produced by the American promotion WWE in 2010. It was originally broadcast exclusively via pay-per-view (PPV) before it began simultaneously livestreaming on the WWE Network in 2015. It has been held every year since, except in 2016, generally in February. The concept of the event is that one or two main event matches are contested inside the Elimination Chamber, either with championships or future opportunities at championships at stake.
In early 2018, WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the Ministry of Sport (formerly General Sports Authority) in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. On January 17, 2022, the seventh event under this partnership was announced as the 12th Elimination Chamber event, scheduled for Saturday, February 19, 2022, at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, featuring wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It was in turn the first Elimination Chamber event to take place in Saudi Arabia, the first to take place outside of the United States, and it was both the first Elimination Chamber event and WWE's first Saudi Arabian event to be held on a Saturday, as the Saudi events were previously held on Thursdays or Fridays while Elimination Chamber was previously held on Sundays. It was also WWE's first previously-established event to take place in the country. This was also the first Elimination Chamber to be branded as a "premium live event", a term the company introduced on January 1 to refer to its events that are available on PPV and via livestreaming.
The Elimination Chamber match is an elimination-based match contested in a type of large roofed steel cage that surrounds the wrestling ring with an elevated platform around the ring. Within the Chamber are four inner pods, one behind each ring post. The match is contested by six participants. Two wrestlers start the match, while the other four are held within each inner pod with one selected randomly to enter the match at regular intervals, which continues until all four have been released. The objective is to eliminate all other opponents by pinfall or submission, and there are no disqualifications or count-outs.
In 2011 and since 2013, the show has been promoted as "No Escape" in Germany as it was feared that the name "Elimination Chamber" may remind people of the gas chambers used during the Holocaust; it was promoted as "No Way Out" in 2010 and 2012.
Broadcast outlets The PLE was broadcast on traditional PPV outlets worldwide. It was also available to livestream on Peacock in the United States, Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, and the WWE Network everywhere else. This was the first Elimination Chamber to livestream on Peacock in the United States, following the shutdown of the American version of the WWE Network in April 2021. This was also the first Elimination Chamber to livestream on Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, following the shutdown of its version of the WWE Network in late January. With the event being held in Saudi Arabia, it aired live at 8:00 p.m. Arabia Standard Time (12:00 p.m. Eastern Time).
Storylines The event comprised seven matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
At the Royal Rumble, Bobby Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar to win Raw's WWE Championship due to Paul Heyman betraying Lesnar, who later entered the Royal Rumble match and won to earn a world championship match of his choice at WrestleMania 38. On January 31, it was announced that Lashley would defend the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match at the eponymous event. On that night's Raw, after Lesnar confirmed his decision to challenge for SmackDown's world championship at WrestleMania, he also demanded a rematch against Lashley that night as Lashley did not fairly win the WWE Championship; however, on MVP's advice, Lashley declined. WWE official Adam Pearce then announced that Lesnar would be competing in the Elimination Chamber match. Later, Seth "Freakin" Rollins also announced that he would be one of the participants due to technically winning his match at the Royal Rumble. The final three spots were determined in qualification matches that night: Austin Theory, Riddle, and AJ Styles qualified by defeating Kevin Owens, Otis, and Rey Mysterio, respectively.
Roman Reigns was originally scheduled to face Goldberg for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36 in April 2020; however, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly before the event, Reigns pulled out of the match due to his immunocompromised state from past battles with leukemia. Goldberg faced another challenger at that event who defeated him for the title, with Reigns returning later that year and winning the title at Payback in August. Nearly two years later since their canceled match at WrestleMania 36, Goldberg appeared on the February 4, 2022, episode of SmackDown and challenged Reigns for the Universal Championship at Elimination Chamber, which was made official.
At Day 1, Drew McIntyre defeated Madcap Moss, who was accompanied by Happy Corbin. Later that night while McIntyre was interviewed backstage, Corbin and Moss attacked McIntyre, injuring his neck, which was reported to require surgery. At the Royal Rumble, McIntyre made a surprise return from his injury during the Royal Rumble match and eliminated Corbin and Moss, after which, McIntyre attacked Corbin and Moss further with the steel steps following their eliminations. On the following SmackDown, McIntyre stated he would continue to target the two due to them almost ending his career. A rematch between McIntyre and Moss was scheduled for Elimination Chamber. The rematch was then stipulated as a Falls Count Anywhere match.
On the February 11 episode of SmackDown, after Charlotte Flair retained the SmackDown Women's Championship against Naomi, Flair and Sonya Deville, who had a long history with Naomi which dated back to September 2021, attacked Naomi until women's Royal Rumble winner Ronda Rousey, who chose to face Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 38 the previous week, made the save. It was subsequently confirmed that Rousey would team with Naomi to take on Deville and Flair at Elimination Chamber. On the February 18 episode, during the contract signing for the match, it was revealed that Rousey would have to wrestle with one arm tied behind her back.
On February 7, a women's Elimination Chamber match was scheduled for Elimination Chamber with the winner earning a Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 38. Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley, Doudrop, and Nikki A.S.H. were announced for the match with one spot to be filled. The following week on Raw, Belair defeated all the other women in a gauntlet match to earn the right to enter the match last. Also on that episode, after weeks of therapy sessions after her doll Lily had been destroyed at Extreme Rules in September 2021, Alexa Bliss completed her final session and named herself as the sixth competitor for the match.
On the January 14 episode of SmackDown, The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) won a fatal four-way tag team match to become the number one contenders for The Usos's (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) SmackDown Tag Team Championship. On February 3, the match was scheduled for Elimination Chamber.
On the January 31 episode of Raw, The Miz defeated Dominik Mysterio. The following week, Dominik and his father Rey Mysterio were guests on "Miz TV". Rey claimed that Miz cheated to defeat Dominik while Miz took issue that Rey had an opportunity to qualify for the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match while he did not and also that Rey was the cover star of the WWE 2K22 video game. Miz also questioned if Rey was truly Dominik's dad, referencing the child custody battle that Rey had with Eddie Guerrero back at SummerSlam in 2005. Dominik then defeated Miz in a rematch. On the February 14 episode, during The Mysterios's (Rey and Dominik) match, The Miz provided a distraction, causing them to lose. Afterwards, The Miz and Maryse tossed Dominik out of the ring, and The Miz performed a Skull-Crushing Finale on Rey. Later that night, a match between The Miz and Rey was scheduled for Elimination Chamber. On the day of the event, the match was booked for the Kickoff pre-show.
On the January 31 episode of Raw, Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch was confronted by Lita, who challenged the champion for the title at Elimination Chamber, which was made official.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael ColeCorey GravesByron SaxtonSpanish commentatorsMarcelo RodriguezJerry SotoArabic commentatorsFaisal Al-MughaisibJude AldajaniRing announcerMike RomeRefereesDanilo AnfibioJessika CarrDan EnglerEddie OrengoChad PattonDarryl SharmaInterviewerKevin PatrickPre-show panelJackie RedmondMatt CampPeter Rosenberg
Pre-show