The 2026 edition WWE Elimination Chamber PLE takes place on Saturday night in Chicago, Illinois. The show will serve as the last major show before April’s WrestleMania 42, and there’s plenty on the line as the infamous Chamber makes its return.
For promotional reasons, the six-person bout is marketed as one of the most dangerous in all of WWE. However, one Superstar genuinely nearly lost their life inside the structure.
This weekend’s show serves as the final PLE before WrestleMania 42, with 12 Superstars looking to secure a championship match at the ‘Shows of Shows’ when they enter the men’s and women’s Chamber matches at the United Center.
The men’s Elimination Chamber winner will face Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania, while the women’s victor will take on Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Championship.
Cody Rhodes joins Randy Orton, LA Knight, Je’Von Evans, Jey Uso and Trick Williams in the men’s match, with Rhea Ripley, Tiffany Stratton, Raquel Rodriguez, Alexa Bliss, Asuka and Kiana James battling it out for a shot at Jade’s gold.
As so much is at stake, it’s natural that the Elimination Chamber sees plenty of intense physical action. However, it was during the very first Chamber match that a Superstar suffered an injury so severe that medics were worried they might die.
WWE Hall of Famer was Seriously Injured in the First-Ever Elimination Chamber Match
Triple H is now the Chief Content Officer and is responsible for booking the storylines and matches that play out on television. Back in November 2002, though, he was very much an active competitor.
The Game entered the first-ever Elimination Chamber match as the reigning and defending World Heavyweight Champion. His five challengers on the night were Shawn Michaels, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Kane and Rob Van Dam.
Early on in the contest, RVD attempted his Five-Star Frog Splash from the top of one of the Chamber pods, but badly misjudged his landing, causing his shin to land clean on Triple H’s neck and crush his larynx.
As you can imagine, the injury caused serious immediate pain as the champion kicked against the mat furiously as he struggled to breathe.
Somehow, Triple H still went the distance in the match, competing for over 20 minutes despite being virtually unable to talk and having restricted breathing. He ended up losing his title to Michaels, as had been originally planned.
The injured Superstar was taken to hospital immediately, where doctors were so worried about his health that they refused to allow him to leave. Speaking shortly after he had recovered, Triple H recalled:
“They needed to keep me overnight because they were afraid that if it swelled any more, my airway would close off, and before I would be able to tell anybody, I wouldn’t be able to breathe, and I could die.
“This sounds extreme, but the doctor explained to me that if somebody dropped even a 10 or 20 lb weight on you from a few feet in the air and it hit you on the throat, it could crush your windpipe and kill you instantly.”
He concluded: “It could have been a lot worse, and that’s why they kept me last night and wouldn’t let me leave the hospital, because they weren’t sure how bad it was, and if it did swell more, it could have killed me.”
Triple H is no stranger to injuries throughout his illustrious career, but none could have had quite as catastrophic an impact as the one he suffered in the Elimination Chamber.
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