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The Elimination Chamber had been retired as an event due to the lack of venues that would allow the set up of the rigging for the Chamber structure as renovations to older facilities (such as Madison Square Garden, where the first Chamber match was held in 2002) led to newer, larger digital screens being installed. Since the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi has not had those renovations, it can handle rigging necessary to lift and hold the Chamber above the ring.
The decision was made so recently (as recently as the last 48 hours) that the American Bank Center website listing for the 5/31 event still features Seth Rollins vs. Ryback and Big Show vs. Seth Rollins in a Street Fight as the main events. Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt are also advertised.
WWE is also running 5/31 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC. Since WWE PPVs are usually an "all hands on deck" event, it should be interested to see if the company announces it is postponing the Greenville event. John Cena, Rusev and Bad News Barrett are advertised for that event.
Texas was chosen as the location because that week's WWE TV tapings are also in Texas, so the production crew could easily be added to another date on that loop.
The PPV has been added to the WWE Network to give a major event to help push new, free subscribers to the OTT Network, as WWE has had great success thus far in getting those who sign up for a free month to then convert into paying subscribers. It will be the first PPV to air exclusively on the Network as opposed to In Demand and other traditional PPV carriers as well, likely with the hope that WWE can lure in the several hundred thousand fans that are still buying PPVs via the old traditional means and convert them over to the Network.
The Elimination Chamber PPV was first held in February 2010, at the time it was designed as the last stop before WWE's flagship Wrestlemania event. The PPV was last held in February 2014 in Minnesota.
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