WWE Elimination Chamber was unsafe and could break backs, legend recalls

WWE Elimination Chamber 2025 will take place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on March 1. John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL), a one-time Elimination Chamber participant, recently shared his honest thoughts on the unique concept.

Elimination Chamber matches are usually contested by six people. While two wrestlers start in the ring, the other four competitors are locked in separate pods. Wrestlers are released from pods at regularly scheduled intervals, turning the bout into a multi-person elimination match.

On the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL confirmed to host Conrad Thompson that the original Chamber was WWE's most devastating match type:

"No doubt about it. When they first built it, there was nothing on that structure that didn't hurt. I mean nothing. It looked like a terrific idea." [6:08 – 6:16]

WWE has altered the Elimination Chamber in recent years to make the structure less dangerous. However, those changes had not been made when JBL competed in the match in 2008.

"The original idea, there was nothing about it that was safe," Layfield continued. "Everything on that thing hurt, and nothing made a noise. It's the worst of everything. You hit a freaking floor, it's just a thud. No noise. But it almost breaks your back." [6:23 – 6:41]

JBL's only Chamber match occurred at No Way Out 2008. On that occasion, Triple H defeated Layfield, Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, Shawn Michaels, and Umaga.

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JBL compares the Elimination Chamber and Punjabi Prison

Three Punjabi Prison matches have taken place in WWE. To win the bout, a wrestler must escape two bamboo cages before placing both feet on the ringside floor outside the outer cage.

Although JBL did not compete in a Punjabi Prison match, he knows how dangerous the structure can be:

"It was like the Punjabi Prison match. When they first built that thing, it looked like bamboo but it was solid steel. When you hit that thing, anything that touched that thing hurt, but it looked fake. So, when you're hitting it, it's like the worst of everything. You're getting beat to hell and the crowd's not reacting because it doesn't look real." [6:41 – 7:03]

Two Elimination Chamber matches will take place at Saturday's premium live event. CM Punk, Damian Priest, Drew McIntyre, John Cena, Logan Paul, and Seth Rollins will participate in the men's match. The women's bout will be contested by Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Naomi, and Roxanne Perez.

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Please credit Something to Wrestle and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.