Iron Will: WWE's Toughest Match review (DVD) ★★★★★

Also known as Satan's Prison: The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber outside the UK (why it was renamed here I do not know, and besides, the Chamber is steel not iron, so the pun doesn't even really work), Iron Will: The Anthology of WWE's Toughest Match is a three-disc collection of all eleven Elimination Chamber matches in the WWE, from the bout's inception at Survivor Series 2002, to the most recent two matches of its kind in 2010 at Elimination Chamber, the event named after the infamous concept. As my ratings for this DVD set show, there has never once been a bad Elimination Chamber, and with so many four-star matches adorning this ghoulish compilation, ultimately it's one of the best releases in a long time and a must buy for fans.

One thing to note on the technical aspect of this set is that up until the matches when the WWE went HD, the bouts are cropped to fit inside two thick bars either side of the screen that feature the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view logo, just like on most of the matches in the Ricky Steamboat DVD. This is a little annoying at first, but you soon forget about the bars when you're engrossed in the action.

Survivor Series '02 – World Heavyweight Championship ????
Pitting Triple H against Kane, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, Booker T and Shawn Michaels, it was the first ever Elimination Chamber match. No one could have expected what carnage would take place in the inaugural bout, but it met the tremendous hype. I can't think of a better combination of Superstars than the six who took part to bring the match into the WWE spectrum and, as has been proven over the last eight years since its inception, for the long haul. The variety in the expertise and styles of the competitors meant for rather epic gladiatorial combat inside the solid steel dome of destruction. Among the six, you had Jericho to input his technical excellence, RVD to make great use of the confined environment, and the ever-wondrous Shawn Michaels in only the second match of his second and supposedly final WWE run, supporting rather iffy brown tights no less. Those involved made great use of the steel as a weapon and a springboard, and gave us a memorable war to give birth to a stipulative mainstay.

SummerSlam '03 – World Heavyweight Championship ???
Half a year later at SummerSlam, the Elimination Chamber returned with Triple H vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg. Although you'd have expected it to be bigger and better, the contest was in fact very underwhelming and of inferior comparison to the first. The match just flew by and the time between each entry from the internal chambers didn't feel like five minutes. It started off on a positive note with Jericho and HBK going at it, having their own little chain wrestling showcase as a match within a match, but from there it just coasted along rather averagely. While still a decent match, the spots weren't as thrilling as in the original bout. I did enjoy Goldberg's squashing of his opponents pretty much as soon as he left his chamber, and the Spear he gave real-life rival Y2J through the plexiglass of another, but nothing else stuck out to me as particularly enthralling. Whereas Survivor Series 2002's main event felt like a real war, SummerSlam's didn't, and given the circumstances, it definitely should have.

New Year's Revolution '05 – World Heavyweight Championship ????
It wasn't for a year and a half that the Elimination Chamber returned after SummerSlam 2003, but it came back in a big way with Edge vs. Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit, stealing yet another pay-per-view event and rising above the last match of its kind in terms of quality. The third battle inside the dome featured three of the Superstars who had endured the two previous, them being Jericho, Triple H, who was still leading Evolution at this point, and HBK, having taken the role of special guest referee as opposed to competing for the World Heavyweight Championship. Michaels called it right down the middle, almost. He retaliated with Sweet Chin Music when Speared inadvertently by Edge, which lead to the two having their own singles feud following the event. The first ever New Year's Revolution marked the true beginning of Batista's monstrous rise to the top as the year began, and this match involved plenty of tension and teasing between the Animal and Triple H as the first stop on their road to WrestleMania 21. Good stuff. And there's plenty of bloody action, too. It should be noted that commentary complimenting Chris Benoit in any way is edited out, but thankfully there's only a little bit so you'll hardly notice the dead air.

New Year's Revolution '06 – WWE Championship ???
Another decent match contested within the prison-like Chamber, though there haven't been any less than decent in the concept's history, which is nothing short of excellent seeing as how other 'big' stipulations like Hell in a Cell were milked upon inception, with a couple thrown away on free TV and lasting under ten minutes. Regardless, this match at the second of the three annual New Year's Revolution events continued the Elimination Chamber's status as being RAW exclusive, as SmackDown hadn't yet participated in such a battle. With John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle vs. Carlito vs. Chris Masters vs. Shawn Michaels, the events following this match where Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank privilege to defeat John Cena and win his first ever WWE Championship, have pretty much always overshadowed the war inside the Chamber itself, though not for no reason as to this day it's one of the most shocking moments of 21st century wrestling. That match is included in its entirety following the WWE Title Chamber clash, by the way. In the Chamber match itself, it seemed as though the allied Carlito and Chris Masters were thrown into the mix just to make up the numbers because of RAW's lack of genuine main event Superstars at the time. While they did a satisfactory job in this match, I never believed that they had a chance in hell of winning and so them going up against John Cena as the final three then-surviving participants, basically revealed who the winner was going to be, though thankfully of course things were shaken up immediately after the bell as I mentioned.

December to Dismember '06 – ECW Championship ???
This match featuring The Big Show vs. Rob Van Dam vs. CM Punk vs. Test vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Bobby Lashley just about saved the worst wrestling pay-per-view event of 2006. The only PPV of Extreme Championship Wrestling's four-year revival was a complete and utter shambles. The wrestling for the most part was totally underwhelming and the proceedings essentially cost Paul Heyman his job with the WWE, leaving the company immediately after. Billed as the Extreme Elimination Chamber, though I'd say the match itself is relatively extreme in the first place, this bout featured a weapon inside each internal pod alongside the confined four Superstars. The weapons were a crowbar, steel chair, table and a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. I never really understood the point of having weapons within a steel battleground that's 36 feet in diameter and tonnes upon tonnes in weight, but okay. They should have had plenty of weapons scattered about the place if they really wanted to make this Elimination Chamber unique and particularly "extreme", rather than just four. The table didn't even break, instead being used by Lashley to snap the steel chains that made up the roof of his pod. Excuse me, but how the hell could a wooden table break through steel chains? It would be more realistic for Lashley to just rip them apart with his own bare hands, but that itself would not be plausible. I know that Vince McMahon and Heyman had many an argument with regards to how this match should play out, and since it really did feel like it was mishandled, I'd like to know what the founding father of extreme had in mind for it.

No Way Out '08 – WrestleMania 24 World Heavyweight Championship Opportunity ????
With Batista vs. The Undertaker vs. Finlay vs. Big Daddy V vs. The Great Khali vs. Montel Vontavious Porter, this was perhaps not the most unpredictable of Elimination Chamber matches seeing as how you'd never genuinely expect Finlay, Big Daddy V, The Great Khali or MVP to headline WrestleMania, especially when competing against the likes of Batista and The Undertaker. Still, there were plenty of excellent spots in this bout including two super-duper Chokeslams. First MVP was thrown from the top of an internal chamber with the Phenom's hand clasped around his throat, all the way to the canvas, and then Finlay received a Chokeslam from inside the ring to the steel floor. I think the match was handled as best as it could have been given who was in it – Khali and Big Daddy V spent just the right amount of time in it given their abilities. Although the deadly Chokeslams are highlights for me, the finish where the Deadman propelled Batista backwards and they flipped over the ropes and into the ring, but with the Animal rolling right into the Tombstone, was spectacular, coming out of nowhere.

No Way Out '08 – WrestleMania 24 WWE Championship Opportunity ????
No Way Out 2008 was the first time in history that two Chamber matches were contested on the very same night, and the second of the two proved to be just as destructive and chaotic as number one, as Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Shawn Michaels, Umaga, John Bradshaw Layfield, and Chris Jericho tore it up inside the steel warring grounds. With JBL, the late Umaga and Jeff Hardy making the event their first ventures into the stipulation, it was good to see yet more fresh talent added to the mix, especially when one of them would deliver a scintillating Swanton Bomb from the top of an internal chamber.

No Way Out '09 – WWE Championship ????
The final No Way Out pay-per-view before the event became Elimination Chamber proved to be a night of shocks and surprises, and it all kicked off with the SmackDown match for the WWE Title, as The Undertaker, The Big Show, Vladimir Kozlov, Triple H, Jeff Hardy and Edge did battle. Starting off with Edge against Jeff Hardy, the Rated R Superstar would quickly be taken out of the match with an inside cradle in one of the most unpredictable moments of the year. A tremendous battle ensued which included Hardy pulling off an even better Swanton from the roof of a pod than the year before, and Triple H and The Undertaker going at it one-on-one for the first time in years. I'm so glad that they were given time to put on their own match within a match as the last time I remember them clashing was at WrestleMania 17, almost eight years prior. Lots of false finishes charged the conclusion of the match with excitement and it brought the house down, but incredibly it was the first of two fantastic Chamber matches on one of the best pay-per-views of 2009.

No Way Out '09 – World Heavyweight Championship ????
The only determent to this bout featuring John Cena vs. Mike Knox vs. Kane vs. Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho, was Knox's involvement. He was just there to make up the numbers plain and simple, and, having been released just a couple of months later, I wish he'd have been the first to be eliminated rather than Kane. There was just no real need to have done it the other way, it only made Kane look weaker than a man who never made an impact in the WWE besides ECW redux. Either way, Edge attacking Kofi Kingston to steal his place in the match was just an utterly brilliant move, capitalising perfectly on his “Ultimate Opportunist” character. This was truly a great decision, and what a match he competed in. Sure, I'd have liked to have seen what innovative spots Kingston could have come up with in such an unforgiving environment, but his substitution was definitely worth the shock and awe of the Rated R Superstar's entrance. In the space of three hours he not only defeated John Cena within the first couple of minutes of him leaving his pod, but he became the first ever Superstar in WWE history to lose the World Heavyweight Championship and win the WWE Championship on the same night, as well as compete in two Elimination Chamber bouts on one single event.

Elimination Chamber '10 – World Heavyweight Championship ????
What a match. Completely thrilling and refreshing, like no Chamber free for all we have seen before. It all got underway with R-Truth and CM Punk as the first two combatants, with Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, Chris Jericho and the champ The Undertaker locked in the pods. What ensued from the bell was like a series of excellent singles matches. R-Truth's elimination even occurred within the first five minutes. Gradually, as time went by, the match degenerated into an all out war, but the way it transpired put an interesting spin on things and made the match very different from what opened the event. Seeing Morrison cleanly pin Mysterio was yet another shocker, as was the masterful surprise of Shawn Michaels costing the Deadman the match to start the fire on their WrestleMania 26 rematch. A stunning way to end the first ever Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

EXTRAS ?? The first disc contains the only special features, which are 2006 New Year's Revolution Story: the video package that aired right before that main event bout at the event; A December to Dismember: the video that hyped the Extreme Elimination Chamber match right before it got underway at ECW's only pay-per-view event during its 2006-2010 rebirth; The Chamber King: a feature showing the destruction caused at the hands of Triple H inside the Chamber; and The Price of Immortality: the video package that opened Elimination Chamber 2010, the final pay-per-view event before WrestleMania 26.