WWE Elimination Chamber wows crowds for the first time in Jeddah - in pictures

Brock Lesnar triumphed, taking home the championship

Spectators attend the 2022 WWE Elimination Chamber at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia on February 19. All photos: AFP

Roman Reigns won a match.

Roman Reigns celebrates after defeating Bill Goldberg.

Young spectators at the Jeddah Super Dome.

Audience members cheer for Brock Lesnar as he walks with the championship belt after winning the 2022 WWE Elimination Chamber.

Brock Lesnar holds up the championship belt.

Brock Lesnar is declared champion.

Brock Lesnar, left, wrestles with Austin Theory.

Brock Lesnar carrying Austin Theory during their match.

Roman Reigns, bottom, wrestles with Bill Goldberg.

WWE is much-loved in Saudi Arabia.

A WWE Elimination Chamber match took place for the first time in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and it drew in enthusiastic crowds, as they watched Brock Lesnar claim the coveted title.

The event took place at Jeddah Super Dome, the world’s largest freestanding dome, and is the final stop before WrestleMania, which takes place in April.

Scroll through the gallery above to see images from the event.

The match, which was postponed by two years because of the pandemic, was organised by the General Entertainment Authority, and included three women's matches, another first for the kingdom.

It was the WWE’s seventh major event to take place after a 10-year deal was signed between the wrestling events company and the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia in 2018.

A few of the highlights from the event include Roman Reigns defeating Goldberg to retain the WWE Universal Championship, Becky Lynch beating Lita and retaining her Raw Women’s Championship title, plus Brock Lesnar being crowned winner of the WWE Championship after competing against Bobby Lashley, Austin Theory, Riddle, AJ Styles and Seth Rollins.

Bianca Belair also defeated Doudrop, Nikki A.S.H, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley in the Elimination Chamber for WWE Raw Women's Championship opportunity at WrestleMania.

What is an Elimination Chamber match?

In the Elimination Chamber format, wrestlers battle it out inside a chain-linked circular steel structure around the ring. There are generally six participants competing in the match. It starts off with two wrestlers while the remaining four wait in an enclosure chamber outside each ring corner.

In five-minute intervals, each chamber is opened until all the wrestlers are competing inside the ring, with the winner determined as the last one standing not eliminated by pinfall or submission. The first Elimination Chamber match took place in 2002 and there have been 29 since.

In the UAE, fans who subscribe to the WWE Network were able to watch the Jeddah event live as well as replays of it afterwards as part of the video-on-demand service. Those in the US can watch on streaming service Peacock.