Elimination Chamber (2020)

The 2020 Elimination Chamber (known as No Escape in Germany) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 10th Elimination Chamber and took place on March 8, 2020, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was the second Elimination Chamber to not take place in February after the 2015 event.

Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, NXT's Shayna Baszler won Raw's women's Elimination Chamber match to become the number one contender against Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 36. In other prominent matches, Aleister Black defeated AJ Styles in a no disqualification match, The Artist Collective (Cesaro, Sami Zayn, and Shinsuke Nakamura) defeated Braun Strowman in a 3-on-1 handicap match, with Zayn pinning Strowman to win the Intercontinental Championship, and The Miz and John Morrison retained the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in SmackDown's tag team Elimination Chamber match. This was also the first Elimination Chamber event with no men's world titles contested on the card.

The event was the last WWE pay-per-view to have taken place in front of a live ticketed crowd before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. The next day, the promotion would move the majority of its shows, including WrestleMania 36, to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with no fans in attendance. From August, they had virtual fans by way of the WWE ThunderDome bio-secure bubble. WrestleMania 37, which was held in April 2021, was WWE's first event since Elimination Chamber to take place in front of a live ticketed audience, and in mid-July, the company resumed live touring, with the first pay-per-view on this tour being Money in the Bank.

Production

Background

Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling event first produced by WWE in 2010. 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. Announced on November 15, 2019, the 2020 event was the 10th Elimination Chamber and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. Due to Super ShowDown being held in February, Elimination Chamber was pushed back to March and it took place on March 8, 2020, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event aired on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and was livestreamed on the WWE Network. Tickets went on sale on December 13.

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.

Storylines

The event comprised eight 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.

On February 17, a Raw-branded women's Elimination Chamber match was scheduled for the event to determine the number one contender against Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 36. Announced for the match were Natalya, Liv Morgan, Asuka, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, and NXT's Shayna Baszler, who reignited her feud with Lynch from Survivor Series by ambushing her on the previous week's episode of Raw.

On the January 31 episode of SmackDown, Braun Strowman defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (with Sami Zayn and Cesaro in his corner) to win the Intercontinental Championship. On the February 28 episode, a contract signing for a title match at Elimination Chamber was held. Tired of hearing Zayn's rants, Strowman signed the contract, stating that regardless of who else signed it, he knew he would basically be facing all three at the event. Zayn seized the opportunity and he, Nakamura, and Cesaro all signed the contract, making it a 3-on-1 handicap match for Strowman's Intercontinental Championship at the event.

At Super ShowDown, The Miz and John Morrison defeated The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) to capture the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The following night on SmackDown, it was announced that Miz and Morrison would defend the titles in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at the event. The challengers announced for the match were The New Day (Big E and Kingston), The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. The following week, Ziggler and Roode won a tag team gauntlet match to enter the chamber last.

At Super ShowDown, Seth Rollins and Murphy retained the Raw Tag Team Championship against The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford). On the following Raw, The Street Profits were given one final opportunity where they defeated Rollins and Murphy to win the titles. Later backstage, Rollins and Murphy challenged The Street Profits to a championship rematch at Elimination Chamber, which was made official.

On the February 24 episode of Raw, The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson) attacked Aleister Black backstage. Black then challenged Styles to a match for the following week, however, Styles said that Black would have to defeat Gallows and Anderson before he could face Styles. Black defeated both Gallows and Anderson in separate matches, after which, Styles faced and defeated Black. A no disqualification rematch between Black and Styles was then scheduled for Elimination Chamber.

On the Royal Rumble Kickoff pre-show, Andrade (accompanied by Zelina Vega) retained the United States Championship against Humberto Carrillo. Carrillo then won a rematch on the following Raw by disqualification due to Vega's interference. Following the match, Carrillo performed a Hammerlock DDT on Andrade onto the exposed concrete, just as Andrade had previously done to Carrillo back in December. With Andrade absent over the next month, Vega brought up her new associate, Angel Garza from NXT, Carrillo's real life cousin. The two then feuded where Garza defeated Carrillo at Super ShowDown. On the March 2 episode of Raw, Carrillo teamed with Rey Mysterio to face Andrade and Garza, where Carrillo pinned Andrade. This earned Carrillo another United States Championship match against Andrade at Elimination Chamber.

Backstage during the February 21 episode of SmackDown, Daniel Bryan was approached by Drew Gulak, who claimed to know all of Bryan's weaknesses. On the March 6 episode, Bryan challenged Gulak to a match at Elimination Chamber, which was later made official for the event.

Event

Pre-show

During the Elimination Chamber Kickoff pre-show, The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) faced Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder. The end saw The Viking Raiders perform the Viking Experience on Ryder, and Ivar pinned him to win the match.

Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with Daniel Bryan facing Drew Gulak. In the end, Bryan applied the Yes Lock on Gulak, who passed out, thus winning the match by technical submission.

Next, Andrade (accompanied by Zelina Vega) defended the United States Championship against Humberto Carrillo. During the match, Vega removed the floor padding to expose the concrete and Andrade attempted to perform a Hammerlock DDT on Carrillo onto the concrete, however, Carrillo countered and performed a Suplex on Andrade. In the end, after exchanging roll-ups, Andrade pinned Carrillo, while holding his tights, to retain the title.

After that, The Miz and John Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in SmackDown's tag team Elimination Chamber match. The challengers were The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston), The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik), and Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode. The Usos and The New Day started the match. Lucha House Party entered third, followed by Miz and Morrison, and then Heavy Machinery. Lucha House Party were eliminated by Heavy Machinery after they performed the Compactor on Dorado. Due to winning the gauntlet match on the previous episode of SmackDown, Ziggler and Roode entered last. They began to target Heavy Machinery, specifically Otis, who attempted to perform a clothesline on Ziggler, who was inside a pod; however, Ziggler avoided Otis, who obliterated the pod and ended up outside the chamber. Tucker tried taking on Ziggler and Roode himself, but was overpowered and Roode performed a Glorious DDT on Tucker to eliminate Heavy Machinery. Big E then performed a Big Ending on Roode, followed by double splashes from The Usos on both Ziggler and Roode to eliminate them. Kingston attempted a splash from the top of a pod, but missed, after which, Miz and Morrison pinned him to eliminate The New Day. In the climax, after exchanging roll-ups, Miz and Morrison pinned Jimmy, with Morrison pinning Jimmy with a roll-up and Miz's legs on the rope to retain the titles.