Elimination Chamber (2022)

The 2022 Elimination Chamber (Arabic: إليمنيشن تشامبر; known as No Escape in Germany) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the American company WWE. It was the 12th annual Elimination Chamber and took place on Saturday, February 19, 2022, at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, featuring wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.

It was the seventh event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030. It was also the first Elimination Chamber event to take place outside of the United States, the first to be held on a Saturday, and the first to livestream on Peacock. It was also WWE's first previously-established event to take place in the country.

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; both were for the Raw brand. In the main event, Brock Lesnar won the men's eponymous match to win the WWE Championship, while Bianca Belair won the women's match to earn 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.

Production

Background

Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling event first produced by the American promotion 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. The 2022 event was the 12th Elimination Chamber and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. In addition to airing on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and the WWE Network in international markets, it was the first Elimination Chamber to livestream on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021.

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 Elimination Chamber, scheduled for Saturday, February 19, 2022, at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah. 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 the first to be held on a Saturday. It was also WWE's first previously-established event to take place in the country.

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 seven matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. 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 the WWE Championship due to Paul Heyman betraying Lesnar. On January 31, it was announced that Lashley would defend the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber. On that night's Raw, Lesnar came out and demanded a rematch against Lashley that night as Lashley did not fairly win the title; 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, Raw Tag Team Champion 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. Nearly two years later on the February 4, 2022, episode of SmackDown, with Reigns now as champion after winning the title at Payback in August 2020, Goldberg appeared and challenged Reigns to a match 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 elimination. 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 has had a long history with Naomi which dated back to September 2021, attacked Naomi until 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' (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' 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 scheduled 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

Pre-show

During the Elimination Chamber Kickoff pre-show, Rey Mysterio (accompanied by Dominik Mysterio) faced The Miz. During the match, Miz retrieved a chair, however, Rey performed a Crossbody on Miz. As Miz tried to use the chair again, Dominik thwarted Miz, however, Miz feigned getting attacked by Dominik. This resulted in the referee ejecting Dominik from ringside. In the end, Rey rolled up Miz to win the match. Following the match, Rey and Dominik performed double 619s on Miz.