Top 36 How Does A Gauntlet Match Work Quick Answer

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It consists of two competitors beginning the match in the ring, followed by competitors entering the ring at timed intervals. Elimination is in the standard battle royal format in which a competitor must go over the top rope and hit the floor in order to be eliminated.The Gauntlet for the Gold can be held in many formats and for many purposes. The most basic format involves an undetermined number of competitors (usually between 10 and 25) competing for either a title or title shot.An Unsanctioned match is any match expected to go so far that beforehand the wrestling organization (kayfabe) claims no responsibility for the participants or their safety. The winner is the wrestler who beats up their opponent so much that the referee has to get involved in the match and break it up.

Contents

How many wrestlers are in a gauntlet match?

The Gauntlet for the Gold can be held in many formats and for many purposes. The most basic format involves an undetermined number of competitors (usually between 10 and 25) competing for either a title or title shot.

What is an unsanctioned match in WWE?

An Unsanctioned match is any match expected to go so far that beforehand the wrestling organization (kayfabe) claims no responsibility for the participants or their safety. The winner is the wrestler who beats up their opponent so much that the referee has to get involved in the match and break it up.

Is WWE scripted?

As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not legitimate contests but entertainment-based performance theater, featuring storyline-driven, scripted, and partially-choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury, even death, if not performed …

What is a dog collar match?

Traditionally, Dog Collar Matches are contested with larger male opponents who are ready to destroy each other from pillar to post. Sometimes, females do battle with dog collars and chains, but they are predominately larger female wrestlers.

Did TNA have a Royal Rumble?

From their very first show, TNA had their Rumble counterpart in the Gauntlet for the Gold. What separates it from the Royal Rumble is the ending, where the final two competitors have a sudden singles match and have to settle things with pinfall or submission.

Can you do elimination tag in WWE 2K22?

The Survivor Series match is usually an 8-man tag team elimination match. This means that individual members of each team can be eliminated by pinfall, submission, a count-out, and a disqualification.

What Is a Texas death match?

A Texas Death match is a wrestling match similar to the Last Man Standing Match, the only difference being that you must be pinned, then a 10-count is initiated. If the person pinned fails to get up by the count of 10, the participant loses the match. Advertisement.

What is a Lumberjack Match WWE?

Lumberjack match

If a wrestler is knocked out of the ring, the lumberjacks/lumberjills will beat him or her up and put them back in. They are usually split in groups of faces and heels.

What is a cage match?

Noun. cage match (plural cage matches) (professional wrestling) An event in which wrestlers battle in a enclosed location, escaping over the top to win.

Does WWE know who will win?

In some cases, the two wrestlers will know who’s supposed to win, how long the match is supposed to take, and then plan out with their opponent the sequence of three or four moves that will make the finishing montage, ending with the pin (1-2-3), the count-out, the disqualification, or general mayhem.

Are WWE chairs real?

The steel chairs are actually made of a lighter metal, and not actually steel. Certain fan groups and wrestling experts criticized the WWE for calling them ‘steel’ chairs and misleading the WWE Universe. However, it’s obvious that with lighter metal, the harm to wrestlers is much lesser.

What are the rules of a dog collar match?

The rules of a Dog Collar match are fairly simple — both men will wear a leather collar around their necks, connected by several yards of chain. That chain is allowed to be used throughout the match, and the only way to win is via pinfall or submission.

What was the first dog collar match?

The first-ever dog collar match at NWA’s Starrcade event in 1983 is perhaps the most notable. The concept of the stipulation was the brainchild of Roddy Piper himself. He and his opponent and rival, Greg Valentine, would each have a dog collar strapped around their necks.

Who invented the dog collar match?

Valentine and Piper introduced the dog collar match at Starrcade ’83, one of the most important shows in the history of American wrestling, and right away everything that’s strange and dangerous about the match comes out.

What is a light out match?

The conceit of a “lights out” match is that since the promotion refuses to sanction it and washes their hands of it — in AEW, which tracks win/loss records, this means it “doesn’t count” — the lights will be turned off after the end of the “official” main event to signify the end of the show.

What is a submission match in WWE?

A submission is a professional wrestling term for yielding to the opponent and therefore losing the fall. Traditionally submission victories would occur when one professional wrestler would place his opponent in a wrestling hold. The referee would ask the trapped wrestler if they wished to submit.

FULL MATCH – Six-Man Gauntlet Match: SmackDown, Feb. 12, 2019

Gauntlet for the Gold – Wikipedia

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Match format[edit]

Variations[edit]

Match history[edit]

Records[edit]

References[edit]

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Gauntlet for the Gold – Wikipedia

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Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for Gauntlet for the Gold | Pro Wrestling | Fandom Updating The Gauntlet match as was defined by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), is a battle royal-style match. When it involves title implications, such as a title on the line or contendership for a title, it is called a Gauntlet for the Gold. This is different from the other type of Gauntlet match…
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Match format

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Unsanctioned Match | The eWrestling Encyclopedia | Fandom

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Company history

Championships and accomplishments

Contracts

Stock and corporate governance

Legal disputes and controversies

Terminology

WWE Network and distribution deals

Expansion beyond wrestling

Partnerships

Talent wellness program

Notes

References

Gauntlet for the Gold

Professional wrestling battle royal

A Gauntlet for the Gold match is a professional wrestling match used in Impact Wrestling.

Match format [ edit ]
Different from the other gauntlet matches, in which one competitor faces several others in turn, the Gauntlet for the Gold match is very similar to the fellow professional wrestling promotion WWE’s Royal Rumble match. It consists of two competitors beginning the match in the ring, followed by competitors entering the ring at timed intervals. Elimination is in the standard battle royal format in which a competitor must go over the top rope and hit the floor in order to be eliminated. If a wrestler falls to the floor without going over the top rope or is thrown over the top but does not fall to the floor, the competitor may re-enter the ring and continue the match.

The final portion of the match consists of the last two competitors squaring off in a regular singles match in which victory must be attained by pinfall or submission.

The Gauntlet for the Gold usually involves a double digit number of wrestlers, and the prize is usually either a championship or a championship match opportunity.

Variations [ edit ]
There is a tag team variation of the Gauntlet for the Gold. A single wrestler enters one at a time at predetermined intervals. When all but two competitors are eliminated, the partners of the two survivors return and the match becomes a standard tag team match.

On October 23, 2005, at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view, the Gauntlet for the Gold Match was fought as completely elimination-only, since the winner had to immediately face the NWA World Heavyweight Champion for the title.

There was also an Ultimate X Gauntlet at Victory Road in 2007, with over-the-top-rope rules and after all 10 participants entered the match, it became a standard Ultimate X match, with the remaining entrants in the match competing in it.

Call Your Shot [ edit ]
In 2019, Impact Wrestling introduced a modified version of the match, called the Call Your Shot Gauntlet. While continuing to use the same rules and format as before, the Call Your Shot version is open to both men and women. The Call Your Shot winner receives a trophy, and earns a future championship match (for the title, and at the time, of their choosing) with the stipulation of having one year to invoke their championship match privilege (which is done by handing in the trophy to an official – similar to WWE’s Money in the Bank briefcase).

The Call Your Shot Gauntlet has become an annual tradition at Bound for Glory, which is Impact’s biggest show of the year.[1][2]
Match history [ edit ]
Gauntlet for the Gold / Bound for Gold [ edit ]
Call Your Shot Gauntlet [ edit ]
Records [ edit ]
Most Gauntlet for the Gold victories [ edit ]
Most times being a Gauntlet for the Gold runner-up [ edit ]

Wikipedia

American professional wrestling and entertainment company

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., commonly shortened to its trade name WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and various other business ventures. The company is additionally involved in licensing its intellectual property to companies to produce video games and action figures.

The promotion was founded in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. It is the largest wrestling promotion in the world with its roster divided up into two primary touring groups and two developmental groups (referred to by WWE as “brands”). Overall, WWE is available in more than 1 billion homes worldwide in 30 languages. The company’s global headquarters is located in Stamford, Connecticut,[6] with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai and Munich.[7]
As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not legitimate contests but entertainment-based performance theater, featuring storyline-driven, scripted, and partially-choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury, even death, if not performed correctly. The pre-determined aspect of professional wrestling was publicly acknowledged by WWE’s owner Vince McMahon in 1989 in order to avoid taxes from athletic commissions. WWE brands its product as sports entertainment, acknowledging wrestling’s roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater.

The company’s majority owner is its former chairman and CEO, third-generation wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, who retains a 38.6% ownership of the company’s outstanding stock and 81.1% of the voting power. The current entity, which was originally named Titan Sports, Inc., was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. It acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., the holding company for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), previously known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), in 1982. Titan was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, and then World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in 2002. Since 2011, the company has branded itself solely with the initials WWE, though the legal name has not changed since 2002.[8]
Company history

Before Titan Sports (1953–1980)

WWE’s origins can be traced back as far as the 1950s when on January 7, 1953, the first show under the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was produced. There is uncertainty as to who the founder of the CWC was. Some sources state that it was Vincent J. McMahon,[9][10][11] while other sources cite McMahon’s father Jess McMahon as founder of CWC.[12][13][14] The CWC later joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and famous New York promoter Toots Mondt soon joined the promotion.

Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt were very successful and soon controlled approximately 70% of the NWA’s booking power, largely due to their dominance in the heavily populated Northeastern United States. In 1963, McMahon and Mondt had a dispute with the NWA over “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers being booked to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[15] Mondt and McMahon were not only promoters but also acted as his manager and were accused by other NWA promoters of withholding Rogers making defenses in their cities versus only defending in Mondt and McMahon’s own cities thus maintaining a monopoly on the world title. In a now infamous situation, the NWA sent former five-time world champion and legitimate wrestler Lou Thesz to Toronto to face Rogers on January 24, 1963. Thesz recalls this was not planned and prior to the match remembered telling Buddy “we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Rogers agreed to lose the fall and title in a one fall match versus the traditional two out of three fall matchup that most world title matches were defended. Once word reached back to Mondt and McMahon, at first they simply ignored the title change. From January until April 1963, Rogers was promoted as the NWA World Champion, or simply the World Heavyweight Champion, in their area. The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was not an immediate creation after Rogers’s one fall loss to Thesz. Mondt and McMahon both eventually left the NWA in protest and formed the WWWF in the process. They brought along with them Willie Gilzenberg, long time boxing and wrestling promoter in New Jersey. In April 1963, the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was created, with the promotion claiming that inaugural champion Rogers had won a tournament in Rio de Janeiro on April 25, 1963, defeating long time Capitol Sports favorite Antonino Rocca in the finals. In reality, Rocca was no longer in the area, as he was working for Jim Crockett Sr. in the Carolinas. Rogers also had already suffered what would later be a career ending heart attack on April 18 in Akron, Ohio, and was in an Ohio hospital during the time the alleged tournament took place.[16] Rogers lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, with the promotion beginning to be built around Sammartino shortly after.[17]
In June 1963, Gilzenberg was named the first president of the WWWF.[18] Mondt left the promotion in the late 1960s and although the WWWF had previously withdrawn from the NWA, McMahon quietly re-joined in 1971. The WWWF was renamed to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979.

Titan Sports, Inc. (1980–1999)

Early years (1980–1982)

Vincent J. McMahon’s son, Vincent K. McMahon, and his wife Linda, established Titan Sports, Inc., in 1980 in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts and applied trademarks for the initials “WWF”.[19][20] The company was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in the Cape Cod Coliseum offices, then moved to the building on Holly Hill Lane in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Boom period (1982–1992)

Vince McMahon , the owner, chairman and CEO of the WWE since 1982

The younger McMahon bought Capitol from his father in 1982, effectively seizing control of the company. The actual date of sale is still unknown but the generally accepted date is June 6, 1982; however this was likely only the date the deal was struck but not finalized. On WWF television, Capitol Wrestling Corporation maintained copyrights and ownership past the June 1982 date. The World Wrestling Federation was not solely owned by Vincent J. McMahon but also by Gorilla Monsoon, Arnold Skaaland and Phil Zacko. The deal between the two McMahons was a monthly payment basis where if a single payment was missed, ownership would revert to the elder McMahon and his business partners. Looking to seal the deal quickly, McMahon took several loans and deals with other promoters and the business partners (including the promise of a job for life) in order to take full ownership by May or June 1983 for an estimated total of roughly $1 million with the three business partners receiving roughly $815,000 among them and Vincent J. McMahon receiving roughly $185,000.[21] Seeking to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the country, and eventually, the world, he began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the wrestling business.[22]
At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and former Capitol employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from the organization.[15] McMahon also worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across the United States. This angered other promoters and disrupted the well-established boundaries of the different wrestling promotions, eventually ending the territory system, which was in use since the founding of the NWA in the 1940s. In addition, the company used income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to secure talent from rival promoters, to which McMahon discussed in an interview with Sports Illustrated. McMahon was quoted as saying: “In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U.S. and if I hadn’t bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them, fragmented and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords.”[22]
McMahon gained significant traction when he hired American Wrestling Association (AWA) talent Hulk Hogan, who had achieved popularity outside of wrestling, notably for his appearance in the film Rocky III.[23] McMahon signed Roddy Piper as Hogan’s rival, and then shortly afterward Jesse Ventura as an announcer. Other wrestlers joined the roster, such as The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Junkyard Dog, Paul Orndorff, Greg Valentine, and Ricky Steamboat, joining existing stars such as Jimmy Snuka, Don Muraco, Sgt Slaughter and Andre The Giant. Many of the wrestlers who would later join the WWF were former AWA or NWA talent.

The WWF would tour nationally in a venture that would require a huge capital investment, one that placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse. The future of McMahon’s experiment came down to the success or failure of McMahon’s groundbreaking concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a major success and was (and still is) marketed as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The concept of a wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had begun running Starrcade a few years prior. In McMahon’s eyes, however, what separated WrestleMania from other supercards was that it was intended to be accessible to those who did not watch wrestling. He invited celebrities such as Mr. T, Muhammad Ali, and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event, as well as securing a deal with MTV to provide coverage. The event and hype surrounding it led to the term Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Connection, due to the cross-promotion of popular culture and professional wrestling.

The WWF business expanded significantly on the shoulders of McMahon and his babyface hero Hulk Hogan for the next several years. The introduction of Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC in 1985 marked the first time that professional wrestling had been broadcast on network television since the 1950s when the now-defunct DuMont Television Network broadcast matches of Vincent J. McMahon’s Capitol Wrestling Corporation. The 1980s “Wrestling Boom” peaked with the WrestleMania III pay-per-view at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987, which set an attendance record of 93,173, a record that stood for 29 years until WrestleMania 32.[24] A rematch of the WrestleMania III main event between WWF champion Hulk Hogan and André the Giant took place on The Main Event I in 1988 and was seen by 33 million people, the most-watched wrestling match in North American television history.[25]
In 1983, Titan moved its offices to Stamford, Connecticut, though the current building was built and opened on May 13, 1991. Subsequently, a new Titan Sports, Inc. (originally WWF, Inc.) was established in Delaware in 1987 and was consolidated with the Massachusetts entity in February 1988.[26]
New Generation (1992–1997)

The WWF was hit with allegations of steroid abuse and distribution in 1992. This was followed by allegations of sexual harassment by WWF employees the following year.[27][28] McMahon was eventually exonerated, but the allegations brought bad public relations for the WWF, and an overall bad reputation. The steroid trial cost the company an estimated $5 million at a time of record low revenues. This helped drive many WWF wrestlers over to rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including 1980s babyface hero Hulk Hogan. During this period, the WWF promoted wrestlers of a younger age comprising “The New Generation”, featuring Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, and The Undertaker, in an effort to promote new talent into the spotlight.

In January 1993, the WWF debuted its flagship cable program Monday Night Raw. WCW countered in September 1995 with its own Monday night program, Monday Nitro, which aired in the same time slot as Raw.[29] The two programs would trade wins in the ensuing ratings competition (known as the “Monday Night Wars”) until mid-1996. At that point, Nitro began a nearly two-year ratings domination that was largely fueled by the introduction of the New World Order (nWo), a stable led by former WWF performers Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall (the former Razor Ramon), and Kevin Nash (the former Diesel).[30]
Start of the Attitude Era (1997–1999)

As the Monday Night Wars continued between Raw Is War and WCW’s Nitro, the WWF would transform itself from a family-friendly product into a more adult-oriented product, known as the Attitude Era. The era was spearheaded by WWF VP Shane McMahon (son of owner Vince McMahon) and head writer Vince Russo.

1997 ended with McMahon facing real-life controversy following Bret Hart’s controversial departure from the company, dubbed as the Montreal Screwjob.[31] This proved to be one of several founding factors in the launch of the Attitude Era as well as the creation of McMahon’s on-screen character, “Mr. McMahon”.

Before the Montreal Screwjob, which took place at the 1997 Survivor Series, former WCW talent were being hired by the WWF, including Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind, and Vader. Austin was slowly brought in as the new face of the company despite being promoted as an antihero, starting with his “Austin 3:16” speech shortly after defeating Jake Roberts in the tournament finals at the King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1996.[32]
On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its return to terrestrial television, airing a special program known as SmackDown! on the fledgling UPN network. The Thursday night show became a weekly series on August 26, 1999 – competing directly with WCW’s Thursday night program Thunder on TBS.

World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (1999–2002)

Initial public offering (1999)

In the summer of 1999, Titan Sports, Inc. was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. On October 19, 1999, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. launched an initial public offering as a publicly traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the issuance of stock then valued at $172.5 million.[33] The company is traded on the NYSE under ticker symbol WWE.[34]
Victory in the Monday Night Wars and aftermath (1999–2002)

By the fall of 1999, the Attitude Era had turned the tide of the Monday Night Wars into WWF’s favor. After Time Warner merged with AOL, Ted Turner’s control over WCW was considerably reduced, and the newly merged company announced a complete lack of interest in professional wrestling as a whole and decided to sell WCW in its entirety. Although Eric Bischoff, whom Time Warner fired as WCW president in October 1999, was nearing a deal to purchase the company, in March 2001 McMahon acquired the rights to WCW’s trademarks, tape library, contracts, and other properties from AOL Time Warner for a number reported to be around $7 million.[35] Shortly after WrestleMania X-Seven, the WWF launched the Invasion storyline, integrating the incoming talent roster from WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). With this purchase, WWF now became by far the sole largest wrestling promotion in North America and in the world. The assets of ECW, which had folded after filing for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were purchased by WWE in 2003.[36]
In 2000, the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional football league that debuted in 2001.[37] The league had high ratings for the first few weeks, but initial interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels (one of its games was the lowest-rated prime-time show in the history of American television). NBC walked out on the venture after only one season, but McMahon intended to continue alone. However, after being unable to reach a deal with UPN, McMahon shut down the XFL.[38] WWE maintained control of the XFL trademark[39][40] before McMahon reclaimed the XFL brand, this time under a separate shell company from WWE, in 2017[41] with intent to relaunch the XFL in 2020.[42]
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (2002–present)

Lawsuit and renaming (2002)

In May 2002, the World Wrestling Federation announced it was changing both its company name and the name of its wrestling promotion to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after the company lost a lawsuit initiated by the World Wildlife Fund over the WWF trademark.[43] Although mainly caused by an unfavorable ruling in its dispute with the World Wildlife Fund regarding the “WWF” initialism, the company noted it provided an opportunity to emphasize its focus on entertainment.[44]
First brand split (2002–2011)

In March 2002, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, with each group of wrestlers appearing on one of their main programs, Raw and SmackDown!, due to the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline. This was dubbed as the “brand extension”.

Beginning in 2002 a draft lottery was held nearly every year to set the rosters, with the first draft to determine the inaugural split rosters, and subsequent drafts designed to refresh the rosters of each show. WWE expanded the brand extension by relaunching ECW as a third brand on May 26, 2006.[45] Two years later, WWE adapted a more family-friendly format and their programming received a TV-PG rating.[46] The final ECW program aired on February 16, 2010, after which it was replaced with NXT.[47]
On April 7, 2011, WWE, via the WWE Corporate website, announced that the company was ceasing use of the full name World Wrestling Entertainment and would henceforth refer to itself solely as WWE, making the latter an orphan initialism. This was said to reflect WWE’s global entertainment expansion away from the ring with the ultimate goal of acquiring entertainment companies and putting a focus on television, live events, and film production. WWE noted that their new company model was put into effect with the relaunch of Tough Enough, being a non-scripted program (contrary to the scripted nature of professional wrestling) and with the launch of the WWE Network (at the time scheduled to launch in 2012; later pushed back to 2014). However, the legal name of the company remains as World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.[8]
Brand reunification (2011–2016)

Beginning with the August 29, 2011 episode of Raw, it was announced that Raw would feature talent from both Raw and SmackDown, and would be known as Raw Supershow (the “Supershow” suffix would be dropped on July 23, 2012).[48] Championships previously exclusive to one show or the other were available for wrestlers from any show to compete for; the “Supershow” format would mark the end of the brand extension, as all programming and live events from when the original announcement was made until July 2016 featured the full WWE roster.[49]
In 2013, the company built the sports medicine and training facility WWE Performance Center in the east Orange County, Florida in partnership with Full Sail University from Winter Park, Florida. The training facility is targeted at career and athletic development for the company’s wrestlers.[50] Full Sail is also home base to WWE’s NXT brand,[51] which served as a developmental territory for WWE.[52]
Launch of second brand split (2016–2020)

Raw (left) and SmackDown (right) have been WWE’s two main brands since the brand extension concept was first initiated in 2002.

On May 25, 2016, WWE announced a relaunch of the brand extension, billed as the “New Era”. Following that announcement, Raw and SmackDown now each feature their unique rosters, announcers, ring sets/ropes, and championships. A draft took place to determine which wrestlers would appear on what show. SmackDown also moved from Thursdays to Tuesday nights, which began on July 19 (the night of the aforementioned draft), and airs live instead of the previous pre-recorded format.[53]
On November 29, 2016, WWE introduced a new program specifically for their cruiserweight division (wrestlers 205 lbs. and under) called WWE 205 Live.[54] The program focuses exclusively on those wrestlers who qualify for the division.[55][56] The cruiserweights – who first became a fixture in WWE with the Cruiserweight Classic tournament – were originally exclusive to the Raw brand at the onset of the 2016 brand extension, before landing their own brand.[57]
On December 15, 2016, it was announced that WWE was establishing a new WWE United Kingdom Championship, with the winner being decided by a 16-man tournament to air on WWE Network featuring wrestlers from the UK and Ireland during January 2017. WWE executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque said the eventual plan with the new title and tournament was to establish a UK-based brand with its own weekly television show.[58][59] WWE subsequently launched its UK-based brand as an offshoot of NXT, NXT UK, in June 2018, with Johnny Saint serving as inaugural general manager.[60]
Starting in September 2019, NXT had a weekly, live, two-hour show Wednesday nights on the USA Network and WWE began promoting NXT as their “third brand”.[61][62] However, in 2021 NXT was moved to Tuesday nights, having conceded the Wednesday Night Wars to rival promotion All Elite Wrestling. (AEW), and in September of that year was reinstated to its original function as the developmental brand for the main roster (Raw and SmackDown), under the name “NXT 2.0”.

COVID-19 pandemic and return to touring (2020–present)

In March 2020, WWE began to be impacted by the American onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-March, three of the four major sports leagues had announced that they would close locker rooms to the media as a precautionary measure. As other sports cancellations and postponements were being announced, WWE officially announced on March 12 that its weekly programs, beginning with the following night’s episode of SmackDown, would be filmed at the Performance Center without spectators and with only essential staff present – the March 11 episode of NXT had been recorded at the Performance Center with paying fans, thus being WWE’s last event to have ticketed fans in attendance before the pandemic took full effect.[63][64] WrestleMania 36 was scheduled to take place on April 5 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa; on March 16, WWE announced that the event would also be held behind closed doors in Orlando.[65][66] WrestleMania, as well as Raw and SmackDown for a period before and after WrestleMania, shifted from live broadcasts to a pre-recorded format.[67] NXT continued to air from Full Sail University, but under similar restrictions.[68][69]
Live broadcasts returned on April 13, with the existing arrangements continuing; WWE stated to ESPN.com that “we believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times”, and that the company’s programming “bring[s] families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance”.[68][69] It was subsequently reported that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had deemed WWE a business critical to the state’s economy, and had added an exception under the state’s stay-at-home order for employees of a “professional sports and media production” that is closed to the public and has a national audience.[70][71] The decision was met with criticism from media outlets, with several media outlets pointing out that DeSantis’s actions happened on the same day a pro-Donald Trump political action committee led by Linda McMahon, who was previously a part of Trump’s cabinet, pledged to spend $18.5 million in advertising in Florida, and that, also on the same day, Vince McMahon was named part of an advisory group created by Trump to devise a strategy in re-launching US economy.[72][73][74][75]
On April 15, WWE announced a series of cuts and layoffs in response to the pandemic, including releasing a number of performers (Karl Anderson, Kurt Angle, Aiden English, EC3, Epico, Luke Gallows, Curt Hawkins, No Way Jose, Sarah Logan, Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, Primo, Erick Rowan, Rusev, Lio Rush, Zack Ryder, Heath Slater, and Eric Young), three producers (Dave Finlay, Shane Helms and Lance Storm), referee Mike Chioda, and multiple NXT/Performance Center trainees and staff. WWE executives also took a pay cut, and the company has also suspended construction on its new headquarters for at least six months.[76] The firings caused significant backlash by fans; with Business Insider calling them “livid.” Both fans and several media outlets pointed out that while WWE claimed that these actions were “necessary due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic”, the WWE also claimed to have “substantial financial resources. Available cash and debt capacity currently total approximately $0.5 billion”. DeSantis’s claimed WWE was “essential”, which meant that the company’s revenues loss would be limited.[72][77]
In August 2020, WWE relocated from the Performance Center to Orlando’s Amway Center for a long-term residency, broadcasting episodes of Raw, SmackDown, and pay-per-views through a virtual fan viewing experience called WWE ThunderDome. Inside the ThunderDome, drones, lasers, pyro, smoke, and projections were utilized to enhance the wrestlers’ entrances on a level similar to that of pay-per-view productions pre-pandemic. Nearly 1,000 LED boards were installed to allow for rows and rows of virtual fans. It was free of charge for fans to virtually attend the events, though they had to reserve their virtual seat ahead of time.[78][79][80] WWE remained at the Amway Center up through early December before relocating the ThunderDome to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.[81][82] The ThunderDome relocated to Yuengling Center, located on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa, beginning with the April 12, 2021 episode of Raw.[83][84] In October 2020, NXT events were relocated from Full Sail University to the Performance Center in a similar setup dubbed the Capitol Wrestling Center. It had many of the same features as the ThunderDome, but with a small crowd of select live fans included, in addition to the virtual fans. The name is also an homage to WWE’s predecessor, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation.[85][86] On May 21 WWE announced that they would be bringing back fans full time, beginning with a 25-city tour, thus ending the ThunderDome residency. The July 16 episode of SmackDown started WWE’s return to the road, taking place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

In January 2021, WWE announced that WrestleMania 37, which was originally to be held in Inglewood, California on March 28, would be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida – WrestleMania 36’s original location – as a two-night event on April 10 and 11 and would have fans in attendance, though to a limited capacity.[87] This marked WWE’s first event during the pandemic to have ticketed fans in attendance with a maximum of 25,000 spectators for each night with COVID-19 protocols in place.[88] Also around this time, WWE announced that the WWE Network in the United States would become exclusively distributed by Peacock on March 18, 2021 (ahead of Fastlane and WrestleMania 37). The merger of the WWE Network and Peacock did not affect the service outside of the United States.[89] NXT was moved to a Tuesday night timeslot in 2021 and was rebooted as NXT 2.0 later that year, reinstituting its original function as a developmental territory. The Performance Center became NXT’s permanent home base, replacing Full Sail. Maximum capacity crowds resumed and the Capitol Wrestling Center name was phased out.[90] In February 2022, the 205 Live brand was dissolved and the 205 Live show was replaced by a new NXT show called Level Up.[91]
On February 24, 2022, WWE announced a partnership with On Location, a company known for providing premium hospitality experiences for marquee events. Through the partnership, spectators will have access to hospitality packages for WWE’s five biggest events, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank. The 2022 Money in the Bank will be WWE’s first event to offer the premium hospitality packages. These ticket and travel packages include premier seating, premium hospitality offerings, and meet-and-greets with current WWE wrestlers and legends.[92]
Championships and accomplishments

Current championships

Main roster

Raw

SmackDown

Shared championships

The 24/7 Championship is an open championship

The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship is shared by Raw and SmackDown.

The colors indicate the home brand of the champions.

Note – The WWE 24/7 Championship may change hands anywhere and anytime as long as a referee is present. The title can be held by anybody, regardless of gender or whether they are a wrestler or not.

Developmental

NXT 2.0

NXT UK

Defunct championships

Other accomplishments

Contracts

WWE signs most of its talent to exclusive contracts, meaning talent can appear or perform only on WWE programming and events. They are not permitted to appear or perform for another promotion unless special arrangements are made beforehand. WWE keeps all wrestlers’ salary, employment length, benefits, and all other contract details strictly private.[106]
WWE classifies its professional wrestlers as independent contractors and not as employees. A study by the University of Louisville Law Review found that after applying the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 20-factor test, 16 factors “clearly indicate that wrestlers are employees”. However, as a result of WWE terming them as independent contractors, “the wrestlers are denied countless benefits to which they would otherwise be entitled”.[107]
In September 2020, WWE reportedly told wrestlers that they could no longer “engage with outside third parties”, such as Cameo, and claimed that the WWE “owns the real names of talent, not just their character names”.[108]
In December 2021, WWE revealed a new recruitment contract for athletes who are currently attending college. The NCAA-approved name, image, and likeness contracts are referred to by WWE as “next in line agreements”.[109]
Stock and corporate governance

On October 19, 1999, WWF, which had been owned previously by parent company Titan Sports, launched an initial public offering as a publicly-traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the issuance of stock then valued at $172.5 million.[33] The company has traded on the NYSE since its launch under ticker symbol WWE.[34]
The company has actively marketed itself as a publicly traded company through presentations at investor conferences and other investor relations initiatives.[110] In June 2003, the company began paying a dividend on its shares of $0.04 per share.[111] In June 2011, the company cut its dividend from $0.36 to $0.12.[112] In 2014, concerns about the company’s viability caused wide fluctuations in its share price.[113]
As of 2021, the company’s Board of Directors has 12 members:

Legal disputes and controversies

1990s drug scandal

During the 1980s and 1990s, Dr. George Zahorian was thought to have routinely distributed steroids and other drugs to WWF wrestlers, supposedly with the approval of WWF owner Vince McMahon.[116][unreliable source?] In 1993, McMahon was indicted in federal court after the steroid controversy engulfed the promotion, forcing him to temporarily cede control of the WWF to his wife Linda.[117] The case went to trial in 1994, where McMahon himself was accused of distributing steroids to his wrestlers.[118] One notable prosecution witness was Nailz (real name: Kevin Wacholz), a former WWF performer who had been fired after a violent confrontation with McMahon. Nailz testified that McMahon had ordered him to use steroids, but his credibility was called into question during his testimony as he repeatedly stated that he “hated” McMahon.[119][120] The jury would later acquit McMahon of the charges and he resumed his role in the day-to day operations of the WWF.[citation needed]
Disputes with rival companies

In 1996, Titan Sports, the parent company of the World Wrestling Federation, sued World Championship Wrestling (WCW) over WCW implying that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash (Razor Ramon and Diesel) were invading WCW on the WWF’s behalf. This led to a series of lawsuits filed by both companies as the Monday Night War heated up. The lawsuit went on for years, ending with a settlement in 2000. One of the terms gave then WWF the right to bid on WCW’s assets if the company were liquidated. AOL Time Warner, the then-parent company of WCW, cancelled WCW’s television shows in March 2001 and sold the company assets to the WWF.[121][unreliable source?]
On May 23, 2012, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling) sued former employee Brian Wittenstein and WWE. The suit alleged that Wittenstein violated a non-disclosure agreement and shared confidential information with the WWE which represented a comparative advantage in negotiating with wrestling talent under contract with TNA. He was subsequently hired by WWE, after which TNA asserted that Wittenstein violated the agreement by downloading confidential TNA trade secrets and providing that information to WWE. Although WWE fired Wittenstein and alerted TNA officials as to the disclosure of the information, TNA claimed that WWE had access to the information for three weeks prior to disclosure and in this time, the WWE used secret contract information and attempted to poach their talent in violation of Tennessee’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act.[122] The lawsuit was formally withdrawn without prejudice, by the plaintiff, TNA, on January 15, 2013, under a “Notice of Voluntary Nonsuit” which offers no ruling on the merits of the suit and allows TNA to potentially refile at a later date.[123]
On January 11, 2022, Major League Wrestling filed an anti-trust lawsuit against WWE, accusing them of interfering in television and streaming deals and poaching talent. Through the lawsuit, it was disclosed that a streaming deal with Fox Corporation-owned Tubi was terminated due to WWE allegedly threatening to pull their programming from the sibling Fox broadcast network. The suit also alleges that WWE pressured Vice TV to withdraw from negotiations with MLW.[124][125]
Owen Hart’s death

On May 23, 1999, Owen Hart fell to his death in Kansas City, Missouri during the Over the Edge pay-per-view event in a stunt that went wrong. WWF broke kayfabe by having television commentator Jim Ross repeatedly tell those watching live on pay-per-view that what had just transpired was not a wrestling angle or storyline and that Hart was hurt badly, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation.[126] While several attempts to revive him were made, he died from his injuries. The cause of death was later revealed to be internal bleeding from blunt force trauma. The WWF management controversially chose to continue the event.[127] Later, Jim Ross announced the death of Hart to the home viewers during the pay-per-view, but not to the crowd in the arena.[128] While the show did go on, it has never been released commercially by WWF Home Video. In 2014, fifteen years after his death, the WWE Network aired the event for the first time. A small photo tribute is shown before the start informing fans that Hart died during the original broadcast. All footage of Hart was edited out of the event. The statement reads: “In Memory of Owen Hart May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999 who accidentally passed away during this broadcast.”[citation needed] Four weeks after the event, the Hart family sued the WWF over how dangerous and poorly planned the stunt was, and that the harness system was defective.[129] After over a year and a half into the case, a settlement was reached on November 2, 2000, which saw the WWF give the Hart family US$18 million.[130][131][132]
Dispute with USA Network

In April 2000, USA Networks had filed a lawsuit against World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. in a bid to keep Raw is War and all WWF programming after the WWF opened up a bidding a month prior.[133] Viacom’s proposed bid included a $30-million to $50-million equity investment in the company and carriage on broadcast, billboards and radio of both wrestling matches along with the then-launched XFL.

On June 27, 2000, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled in favor of the WWF.[134] The next day, Viacom won the rights to all WWF programming for $12.6 million including Raw is War on TNN/Spike TV, a revamped Sunday Night Heat on MTV and retained SmackDown! on UPN after the merger with CBS in 1999. The lawsuit centered on USA’s contention that it did not have to match every aspect of a Viacom offer to satisfy a right of first refusal clause in its contract that allowed its deal with the WWF to continue.[135][136][137] In 2005, WWE’s programming (excluding SmackDown!) moved back to USA Network (now owned by NBCUniversal) and maintains its relationship to this day.[138]
WWF name dispute

In 1994, Titan Sports had entered into an agreement with the World Wide Fund for Nature (also trademarked WWF), an environmental organization, regarding Titan’s use of the “WWF” acronym, which both organizations had been using since at least March 1979. Under the agreement, Titan had agreed to cease using the written acronym “WWF” in connection with its wrestling promotion, and to minimize (though not eliminate) spoken uses of “WWF” on its broadcasts, particularly in scripted comments. In exchange, the environmental group (and its national affiliates) agreed to drop any pending litigation against Titan, and agreed not to challenge Titan’s use of the full “World Wrestling Federation” name or the promotion’s then-current logo.[139]
In 2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature sued World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. in the United Kingdom, alleging various violations of the 1994 agreement.[140] The Court of Appeal agreed that the promotion company had violated the 1994 agreement, particularly in regards to merchandising. The last televised event to market the WWF logo was the UK-based pay-per-view Insurrextion 2002. On May 5, 2002, the company launched its “Get The F Out” marketing campaign and changed all references on its website from “WWF” to “WWE”, while switching the URL from WWF.com to WWE.com.[44] The next day, a press release announced the official name change from World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., or WWE, and the change was publicized later that day during a telecast of Raw, which was broadcast from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

Following the name change, the use of the WWF “scratch” logo became prohibited on all WWE properties. Additionally, past references to the WWF trademark and initials in ‘specified circumstances’ became censored.[141] Despite the litigation, WWE was still permitted use of the original WWF logo, which was used from 1979 through 1994 and had been explicitly exempted under the 1994 agreement, as well as the similar “New WWF Generation” logo, which was used from 1994 through 1998. Furthermore, the company could still make use of the full “World Wrestling Federation” and “World Wrestling Federation Entertainment” names without consequence. In 2003, WWE won a limited decision to continue marketing certain classic video games from THQ and Jakks Pacific that contained the WWF “scratch” logo.[142] However, the packaging on those games had all WWF references replaced with WWE.

Starting with the 1,000th episode of Raw in July 2012, the WWF “scratch” logo is no longer censored in archival footage due to WWE reaching a new settlement with the World Wide Fund for Nature.[143] In addition, the F in WWF initials are no longer censored when spoken or when written in plain text in archival footage. Since then, full-length matches and other segments featuring the WWF initials and “scratch” logo have been added to the WWE website and the WWE Classics on Demand and eventually the WWE Network service. This also includes WWE Home Video releases since October 2012, starting with the re-release of Brock Lesnar: Here Comes The Pain.[144] Although the WWF initials and logo are no longer censored in archival footage, WWE cannot use the WWF initials or logo in any new, original footage, packaging, or advertising.[145]
Harry Slash and the Slashtones lawsuit

Harry “Slash” Grivas and Roderick Kohn filed a lawsuit against WWE in June 2003 due to the music being used for its programming and DVDs without consent or payment. It also asserted a violation of the rights to original music used by ECW that WWE had been using during the Invasion storyline of 2001. The case was resolved on both sides with a settlement that saw WWE purchase the catalog outright in January 2005.[146]
Ultimate Warrior-related disputes

In 1993, Jim Hellwig, known in the WWF as “The Ultimate Warrior”, legally changed his name to the mononym Warrior.[147][148] This one-word name appears on all legal documents pertaining to Warrior, and his children carry the Warrior name as their legal surname.[149] Warrior and the WWF engaged in a series of lawsuits and legal actions in 1996 and 1998,[150] where both parties sought a declaration that they owned the characters, Warrior and Ultimate Warrior, under both contract and copyright law. The court ruled that Warrior was legally entitled to use the gimmick, costuming, face paint designs, and mannerisms of the “Warrior” character.[151]
On September 27, 2005, WWE released a DVD documentary focusing on Warrior’s retrospective wrestling career, titled The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. The DVD featured clips of his more notable feuds and matches along with commentary from WWE stars past and present (most of which are unflattering). The DVD has provoked some controversy due to Warrior’s allegations of libel by WWE against him. Originally, Warrior was asked to help with the production of the DVD, but as he refused to work with WWE, there had been some resulting animosity between Warrior and WWE over the Warrior claiming bias on the part of WWE.[152] In January 2006, Warrior filed another lawsuit against WWE in an Arizona court over the depiction of his wrestling career in The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD.[153] On September 18, 2009, Warrior’s lawsuit in Arizona was dismissed.

Warrior returned to WWE to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. During his induction, he mentioned that WWE should create an award to honor those behind the scenes called the Jimmy Miranda Award, named after a long time WWE employee who died. Warrior died three days after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. WWE decided to create the Warrior Award, an award for people “who embodied the spirit of the Ultimate Warrior.” The award was later given to Connor Michalek (a child who died from cancer), Joan Lunden (a journalist who was diagnosed with cancer), and Eric LeGrand (a former college football player who became a quadriplegic after an in-game injury). In October 2017, WWE used the tagline “Unleash Your Warrior” when promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Since Warrior’s death, WWE has been accused of whitewashing and ignoring Warrior’s bigoted and controversial past comments.[154] Pro Wrestling Torch described Warrior in real-life having made public “vile, bigoted, hateful, judgmental comments”, citing as an example that regarding Bobby Heenan’s cancer diagnosis, Warrior said, “Karma is just a beautiful thing to behold.”[155] Vice wrote that “completely whitewashing his past and elevating his likeness to a bland symbol of corporate altruism is shockingly tone-deaf, especially for a company that’s at least outwardly trying to appear progressive, inclusive and diverse.”[154]
Morals clause violations

Under Section 9.13(a) of WWE’s booking contract, commonly known as the “morals clause”, the company has a zero-tolerance policy involving domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault. Upon arrest and conviction for such crimes, a WWE talent shall be immediately suspended and their contract terminated.[156]
Concussion lawsuit

Starting in 2014, numerous former WWE talent filed multiple lawsuits against WWE alleging that WWE did not protect and hid information from their talent about concussions and CTE. The former talent claimed physical and mental health issues as a result physical trauma they experience in WWE. The lawsuits were filed by attorney Konstantine Kyros. US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant dismissed many of the lawsuits in September 2018.[179] In September 2020, the lawsuits were dismissed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.[180] The Supreme Court of the United States subsequently declined to hear the case in April 2021.[181]
Relationship with Saudi Arabia

The events promoted in Saudi Arabia by WWE have been subjected to criticism due to allegations of Sportswashing. WWE has been accused of contributing to Saudi Arabia’s discrimination of LGBT people and women by holding events in the country.[182][183]
WWE’s relation with Saudi Arabia has been condemned by activist groups such as Code Pink and several politicians.[184][185][186][187]
Terminology

WWE uses a variety of special terms in promoting their product, such as describing the wrestling industry as sports entertainment. The fan base is referred to as “the WWE Universe”. A wrestler is designated a “WWE Superstar”, while retired wrestlers are described as “WWE Legends” (or “Hall of Famers” if they have been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame).[188]
WWE Network and distribution deals

On February 24, 2014, WWE launched a 24/7 streaming network. The network includes past and present WWE shows, pay-per-views, and shows from the WWE Library.[189] The network reached 1,000,000 subscribers on January 27, 2015, in less than one year of its launch, with WWE claiming that it was thus “the fastest-growing digital subscription service ever”.[190]
In May 2014, WWE and NBCUniversal agreed to a new contract that would see both Raw and SmackDown continue on NBC owned networks the USA Network and Syfy.[191] In January 2016, SmackDown would change networks to the USA Network. The contract with NBCUniversal expires in 2019.[192] On November 17, 2016, WWE and Sky Deutschland signed a multi-year agreement to distribute WWE’s premier pay-per-view events and broadcast Raw and SmackDown Live on SKY Sports starting in April 2017.[193] On April 10, 2017, WWE and DAZN, announced that Raw and SmackDown would be available live in Japan with Japanese commentary for the first time ever.[194] On April 27, 2017, WWE and TV5, announced a new agreement to broadcast one-hour editions of SmackDown.[195] On May 12, 2017, WWE and Saran Media, announced a new multi-year agreement to televise Raw and SmackDown.[196] On July 10, 2017, WWE and AB 1, extended their partnership into its 18th year with a new, multi-year agreement to broadcast WWE programming.[197] On July 20, 2017, WWE and SuperSport, announced a new, multi-year agreement to broadcast WWE programming live for the first time in more than 50 countries.[198] On August 1, 2017, WWE and Foxtel, extend their partnership into its 18th year with a new agreement to broadcast WWE programming.[199] On August 8, 2017, WWE and Canal 1, a new agreement to broadcast One-hour editions of Raw and SmackDown.[200] On August 16, 2017, WWE and Nine Network announced a broadcast agreement to air weekly one-hour versions of Raw and SmackDown.[201] On August 24, 2017, WWE and Flow announced a multi-year agreement to televise WWE’s flagship programmes Raw and SmackDown.[202] On September 7, 2017, WWE and TVA Sports announced a multi-year agreement to air a weekly, one-hour only edition of Raw, in French in Canada.[202] On October 24, 2017, WWE and Sport TV announced a multi-year agreement to air Raw and SmackDown.[203] On December 15, 2017, WWE and IB SPORTS, they will extend their partnership with a new agreement to broadcast WWE programming live for the first time in South Korea.[204] On December 18, 2017, WWE and SPS HD, announced an agreement to broadcast Raw and SmackDown on SPS Sports for the first time in Mongolia.[205]
On December 13, 2017, WWE and Facebook announced a new Internet in-ring series called WWE Mixed Match Challenge that will stream live in the U.S. exclusively on Facebook Watch. Premiering on January 16, 2018, the 12-episode series will feature wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown rosters competing in a single-elimination mixed tag-team tournament to win $100,000 to support the charity of their choice. Each episode will be 20 minutes long and will air at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.[206]
In early 2021, WWE announced that the WWE Network in the United States would become exclusively distributed by Peacock starting on March 18, 2021 (ahead of Fastlane and WrestleMania 37). The merger of the WWE Network and Peacock does not affect the service outside of the United States.[89]
Expansion beyond wrestling

Subsidiaries

Active

TSI Realty Co. (1997–present): In 1997, WWE established a real estate brokerage and investment firm called TSI Realty Company. [207]
WWE Archives (2010–present): Warehouses where WWE holds classic wrestling gears, props, and equipment.

WWE Books (2013–present): A book series that often publishes biographies of WWE personalities, behind-the-scenes guides to WWE, illustrated books, calendars, young adult books, and other nonfiction books.

WCW Inc. (2000–present): A WCW subsidiary that was originally created as W. Acquisition Company in 2000. It was renamed WCW Inc. in 2001 following the WWF’s purchase of WCW and owns the rights to the video library and intellectual property for World Championship Wrestling.

WWE Legacy Department (2014–present): A collection of professional wrestling videos and copyrights.

WWE Studios (2002–present): A subsidiary that creates and develops feature film properties. In November 2017, WWE announced that WWE Studios will now include scripted, non-scripted, family and animated television and digital content. Formerly known as WWE Films.

WWE Music Group (2015–present): A music group that specializes in compilation albums of WWE wrestlers’ entrance themes. The group also releases titles that have been performed by WWE wrestlers.

WWE Jet Services, Inc. (2013–present): A subsidiary formed to manage the financing and operations of the company’s fleet of private jets.

WWE Performance Center (2013–present): A subsidiary that serves as the usual training center for future employees.

WWE Network (2014–present): A subscription-based video streaming service that uses the infrastructure of Endeavor Streaming.

WWEShop.com (2015–present): A website established as the place to buy officially licensed WWE-related apparel, gear, and several other of the merchandise’s products.

Alpha Entertainment (2018–present): A limited liability company that was established in 2018 by Vince McMahon for the purpose of being the parent company of the new XFL. While McMahon stated that the XFL would remain as a separate company from WWE, it was revealed through WWE’s 2018 10-K that the company holds a minority stake in Alpha Entertainment. [208]
WWE Podcast Network (2019–present): A podcast network that features several WWE wrestlers hosting their own podcasts. WWE partnered with Endeavor Audio to launch the network. [209]
WWE Moonsault (2022-Present): It is WWE’s official NFT marketplace. Moonsault was launched in conjunction with FOX Entertainment’s Web3 studio Blockchain Creative Labs.[210]
Defunct

Investments

Charities

Relationship with Tapout

In March 2015, WWE announced a partnership with Authentic Brands Group to relaunch Tapout, formerly a major MMA-related clothing line, as a more general “lifestyle fitness” brand. The apparel, for men and women, was first released in spring of 2016. WWE markets the brand through various products, including beverages, supplements, and gyms.[234] WWE will hold a 50% stake in the brand, and so will advertise it regularly across all its platforms, hoping to give it one billion impressions a month, and take some of the fitness market from Under Armour. WWE wrestlers and staff have been shown wearing various Tapout gear since the venture began.[235]
Partnerships

Though an infrequent occurrence, during its history WWE has worked with other wrestling promotions in collaborative efforts.

During the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, WWE had working relationships with the Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), Universal Lucha Libre (FULL), and the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association (UWA). These working relationships led to the creations of the WWF World Martial Arts, Light Heavyweight and Intercontinental Tag Team championships.[236][237][238][239]
During the period of 1992–1996, WWE had talent exchange agreements with the United States and Japanese independent companies Smokey Mountain Wrestling (SMW),[240][241] Super World of Sports (SWS),[242] WAR,[243] and the United States Wrestling Association (USWA).[244]
In 1997, the company did business with Mexico’s AAA promotion, bringing in a number of AAA wrestlers for the Royal Rumble event and namesake match.[245][246]
In 1997, WWE would also do business with Japan’s Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW), bringing in MPW talent to compete in the company’s light heavyweight division and in their 1997 Light Heavyweight Championship tournament.[247]
In 2015, WWE entered a partnership with Evolve – a U.S. independent promotion that WWE uses as a scouting group for potential signees for the NXT brand.[248] In 2020, WWE would purchase Evolve for an undisclosed amount.[249]
In 2016, WWE partnered with England’s Progress Wrestling with Progress hosting qualifying matches for WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic.[250] In 2017, Progress talent would participate in the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament[251] and at WWE’s WrestleMania Axxess events.[252] Three years later in 2020, Progress programming began airing on the WWE Network.

In 2017, WWE partnered with Scotland’s Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) with some ICW talent appearing in the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament and at WWE’s WrestleMania Axxess events.[252] In 2017, WWE explored a deal to bring ICW programming onto the WWE Network[253] – ICW programming began airing on the WWE Network in 2020.

In 2018, WWE partnered with Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw).[254] In October 2018, WWE hosted German tryouts at the wXw Wrestling Academy.[255] In 2020, wXw programming began airing on the WWE Network.

Throughout the company’s history, WWE has had past arrangements with independent companies from the contiguous United States (such as Ohio Valley Wrestling) and Puerto Rico (such as the International Wrestling Association) with the companies serving as developmental territories.[256]
Talent wellness program

The World Wrestling Federation had a drug-testing policy in place as early as 1987, initially run by an in-house administrator. In 1991, wrestlers were subjected to independent testing for anabolic steroids for the first time.[257] The independent testing was ceased in 1996, being deemed too expensive as the company was going through financial duress at the time as a result of their competitors, World Championship Wrestling, being so overwhelmingly more popular and hurting the federation’s business.[258]
The Talent Wellness Program is a comprehensive drug, alcohol, and cardiac screening program initiated in February 2006, three months after the sudden death of one of their highest-profile and most popular talents, Eddie Guerrero, who died at 38-years-old.[259] The policy tests for recreational drug use and abuse of prescription medication, including anabolic steroids.[259] Under the guidelines of the policy, talent is also tested annually for pre-existing or developing cardiac issues. The drug testing is handled by Aegis Sciences Corporation; the cardiac evaluations are handled by New York Cardiology Associates P.C.[259] The Wellness Policy requires that all talent “under contract to WWE who regularly perform in-ring services as a professional sports entertainer” undergo testing; however, part-time competitors are exempt from testing.[260]
After the double-murder and suicide committed by one of its performers, Chris Benoit, with a possible link to steroid abuse encouraged by WWE, the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform requested that WWE turn over any material regarding its talent wellness policy.[261]
In August 2007, WWE and its employees defended the program in the wake of several busts of illegal pharmacy that linked WWE performers to steroid purchases even after the policy was put into place. Ten professional wrestlers were suspended for violating the Wellness Policy after reports emerged they were all customers of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, Florida. According to a statement attributed to WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt, an eleventh wrestler was later added to the suspension list.[262][263][264]
Because of the Wellness Policy, physicians were able to diagnose one of its performers with a heart ailment that would otherwise likely have gone unnoticed until it was too late. In August 2007, then-reigning United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (real name: Hassan Assad) was diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome,[265] which can be potentially fatal if gone undiagnosed. The ailment was discovered while Assad was going through a routine Wellness Policy checkup.

On September 13, 2010, WWE updated their list of banned substances to include muscle relaxers.[266]
Notes

^ [2] Vince McMahon owns 38.6% of the outstanding stock of WWE and 81.1% of the voting power

References

Professional wrestling match types

Various types of matches used in professional wrestling

Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called “concept” or “gimmick matches” in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. Throughout professional wrestling’s decades long history, some gimmick matches have spawned many variations of the core concept.

Singles match [ edit ]
The singles match is the most common of all professional wrestling matches, which involves only two competitors competing for one fall. A victory is obtained by pinfall, submission, knockout, countout, or disqualification. Some of the most common variations on the singles match is to restrict the possible means for victory.

Duchess of Queensbury Rules match [ edit ]
A Duchess of Queensbury Rules match is a singles match contested under specific, often disclosed rules is replaced by a title usually meant to sound traditional for one combatant. A wrestler challenging another wrestler to a match to be contested under some kind of rules without going into any detail, then making up rules in their favor as the match progresses and feeding them to the ring announcer. This match type was first occurred at Backlash (2001) pay-per-view between Chris Jericho vs. William Regal, which Regal won.

Knockout match [ edit ]
A Knockout match is a singles match where a wrestler must force his opponent to “pass out” to the other wrestler/wrestlers in a submission hold. To determine if a wrestler has passed out, the referee usually picks up and drops his hand. If it drops to the mat or floor three consecutive times without the wrestler having the strength to hold it up, the wrestler is considered to have passed out. If the wrestler has passed out, the opponent then has lost by knockout. A wrestler can also win by technical knockout if the competitor does not resort to submission holds, but stills pummels his opponent to the point that the competitor is completely out cold. To check for a knockout in this manner a referee would wave his/her hand in front of the wrestlers’ face and, if the wrestler does not react in any way, the referee would award the victory to the other wrestler.

No Count-Out match [ edit ]
A No Count-Out match is a singles match in which both competitors can stay outside of the ring without being counted out. A well known example is at Vengeance (2003) between Stephanie McMahon and Sable, which Sable won.[1]
One Sided Rules match [ edit ]
A One Sided Rules match is a singles match where one of the competitors cannot be disqualified or counted out, while the other opponent can. This stipulation can give the other opponent a serious disadvantage to win. One example of this match took place at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules in 2020 between Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, in which the latter won despite having the disadvantage. Another example was Carlito vs. Triple H at 2007’s Unforgiven in a no disqualification match where the no-disqualification rule applied only to Carlito where, despite this advantage, Carlito lost.

Pinfall match [ edit ]
A Pinfall match (also known as Pinfall Only) is a singles match where both wrestlers can only achieve a pinfall inside the ring to gain the victory. There are no submissions, no disqualifications and no countouts in this match.

Pure Wrestling Rules match [ edit ]
The Pure Wrestling Rules match most commonly appeared in Ring of Honor (ROH). It is a singles match where each wrestler is allowed only three rope breaks. Once they are all used up, the wrestler cannot use the ropes to escape pins or submissions. Closed fists are illegal, and using them will cause the wrestler to be penalized a rope break – if he/she is out of rope breaks, he/she will be disqualified. This match can be won by pinfall or submission.

Time Limit match [ edit ]
A time limit match is a singles match contested in a set time limit until the wrestler achieves an victory or the time reaches zero, resulted as an official draw. Sometimes, a match that ends in an draw will ruled as a “no contest” if both competitors receive an disqualification or getting counted out. The match can be won by pinfall, submission, disqualification or countout.

Attire-based variations [ edit ]
Some matches are based on different attire where competitors must wear specific outfits, reduced clothing, or blindfolds.

Blindfold match [ edit ]
In a Blindfold match, the two participants must wear a blindfold over their eyes for the entire duration of the match. A well-known example of this match is the WrestleMania VII match between Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Rick Martel.

Reduced clothing [ edit ]
Women’s match types include those in which women wrestle in less clothing. This may include bikinis (Bikini match), lingerie (Lingerie match), wet clothing (Wet and Wild match), or no clothing (matches in the Naked Women’s Wrestling League).

Trading Places match [ edit ]
In a Trading Places match, the two participants must dress up as each other. In addition to dressing up as the other, a participant also uses the other’s entrance theme as his own.

Battle royal-based variations [ edit ]
The battle royal is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until only one is left. Typical battle royals begin with 20 or more participants all in the ring at the same time, who are then eliminated by being thrown over the top rope and having both feet touch the venue floor.

Battlebowl [ edit ]
The Battlebowl is a two-ring variation on a battle royal, the wrestlers start in one ring and try to throw wrestlers into the second ring, after which they can be eliminated by being thrown out of that ring. The last remaining wrestler in the first ring can rest until only one wrestler is left in the second ring, after which they fight in both rings until one is eliminated and a winner is declared, in similar fashion to a double elimination tournament. This was held by World Championship Wrestling at the 1991 Starrcade event, but future Battlebowl matches were contested under normal battle royal rules.

Battle Zone [ edit ]
The battle zone features any number of men in one ring over the top rope elimination. Typical battle royal, except this one features tables covered with barbed wire, thumbtacks, and light bulbs on the outside of the ring, which may catch wrestlers as they are thrown out of the ring.

Bunkhouse Stampede [ edit ]
The National Wrestling Alliance’s (NWA) Bunkhouse Stampede involved wrestlers wearing what was described as “bunkhouse gear”—cowboy boots, jeans, T-shirts—instead of their normal wrestling tights and not only allowed but encouraged the bringing of weapons. In 1988 the NWA named a pay-per-view after the Bunkhouse Stampede, headlined by a Bunkhouse Stampede match held inside a cage.[2]
Fulfill Your Fantasy battle royal [ edit ]
The Fulfill Your Fantasy is a women’s battle royal with the addition of fetish outfits, such as a French maid, lingerie, nurse, schoolgirl, etc. Often the type of outfit is chosen by an audience poll. This match may allow women to be eliminated by being thrown through the ropes, under the ropes, or over the top rope as stipulations.

Hardcore battle royal [ edit ]
A battle royal with hardcore rules (no disqualifications and no count-outs) involving several competitors in the ring at the same time. The match could last for either 15 or 20 minutes. All participants are not eliminated by being thrown out of the ring and both feet touching the floor. Pinning or forcing to submit whomever was current Hardcore champion would result in the victorious participant becoming the interim champion. Whoever the person held the title at end of the time limit would be declared the winner of the match and the official champion.

Last Blood battle royal [ edit ]
A Last Blood battle royal is essentially a multi-competitor First Blood match. All competitors start at the same time and wrestlers are eliminated when they start bleeding. The winner is the last wrestler in the match not bleeding. This match was held in the Tri-State Wrestling Association, a predecessor to Extreme Championship Wrestling.[3]
Reverse battle royal [ edit ]
Generally used in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a reverse battle royal begins with wrestlers surrounding the ring instead of inside it. At the start of the match they battle for half of them to get into the ring, at which point a standard last person standing wins the battle royal.

The Cage Reverse Battle Royal is another TNA variation of this match type. This actually has three stages; It begins the first stage as an inside-out battle royal with 15 or more wrestlers involved. The first seven to enter the ring over the top cage will advance to the second stage which is a Gauntlet Match. When it gets down to the final stage, only two wrestlers will battle in a singles match which is decided by pinfall or submission.[4]
Semi-final battle royal [ edit ]
A semi-final battle royal consists of a battle royal where when a specific number of wrestlers are remaining, the match ends, and those that remain are placed in a standard wrestling match for the prize at stake.

In All Elite Wrestling, it is known as a Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal, as twelve competitors compete until it is reduced to two, and there is a subsequent episode where the final two compete, in this case, “AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring”.[5][6]
In New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the 2021 New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 15 was conducted as a semi-final battle royal. Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale, Tetsuya Bushi, and Toru Yano were the final four that competed in a championship match the next day.

Tag Team battle royal [ edit ]
The tag team battle royal consist of designated tag teams of wrestlers, (usually) two members on the team. This match uses the normal battle royal rules, teams may be eliminated when either one or both partners are thrown over the top rope, depending on the stipulation. This match is conducted similarly to a battle royal. In most cases both wrestlers are considered active at the same time and there are no tags, as in a tornado tag team match.

Another variation of the tag team battle royal was used during the 2011 WWE Draft on April 25, 2011; where the wrestler’s team has to eliminate all members of the opposing team, much like an elimination tag team match where the losing wrestler of a team, who just got thrown over the ring ropes with both feet on the floor, must return to his locker room.

Thunderbowl [ edit ]
The Thunderbowl is another variation of Battlebowl involves 100 wrestlers split into 50 in two rings. The only way to be eliminated is to be thrown over the ropes. No matter how and where you hit, whether its apron, floor or barricade you are also eliminated. When 25 wrestlers are left in each ring, stage two begins. This second stage is when all 50 wrestlers get into one ring and there is no elimination. After a five-minute period, the match turns into a Battle Royal where elimination is gained by throwing your opponent over the ropes and to the floor. When five wrestlers remain, stage three begins. This third stage then turns into a five-way match where pinfall and submission will eliminate an opponent. When two wrestlers are left, the match turns into a last man standing where KO is legal.

TNA Knockout Makeover battle royal [ edit ]
The TNA Knockout Makeover will begin as the multi-women over-the-top elimination battle royal. They are eliminated from the match if they are thrown over the top rope and both feet land on the floor, until the final two competitors are left. The final two competitors will face each other in a ladder match, where the winner will receive a TNA Knockout Championship match, while the runner-up will have her head shaved.

Women’s battle royal [ edit ]
A women’s or divas battle royal which only features female competitors. Some stipulations of this match may allow women to be eliminated by being thrown through the ropes, under the ropes, or over the top rope; As stated by Jonathan Coachman on February 20, 2006, edition of RAW, during the #1 contender’s battle royal, but since the WWE Divas Division was rebranded as the WWE Women’s Division in April 2016, the rules are the same as the men’s battle royal with the competitors being eliminated by being thrown over the rope.

World War 3 [ edit ]
Created by World Championship Wrestling in 1995, the World War 3 battle royal involved a three-ring setup and 60 competitors; 20 wrestlers started in each of the three rings in which they would wrestle under regular battle royal rules. Once there were 30 competitors remaining (except in 1997, where the number was 20), all competitors would enter the center ring and continue under regular rules until only one wrestler was left standing.

Cinematic match [ edit ]
A cinematic match is not technically a match type itself, but rather, it is a term used to refer to matches that are produced with various cinematic techniques. The rules vary from match to match, but generally have a basis in hardcore wrestling. Unlike a normal wrestling match, which is done in one take and typically in front of a live audience, cinematic matches are shot over several hours with various scenes filmed, similar to filmmaking, with higher-budget production involved. The final product (the complete match) generally lasts from 20 to 40 minutes and airs at a later time, typically for a pay-per-view event. They are also usually filmed on-location or at a custom built set.[7][8][9]
While not considered a cinematic match at the time, the Hollywood Backlot Brawl between Roddy Piper and Goldust at WrestleMania XII in 1996 is considered an early cinematic match by the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), as it used techniques now featured in cinematic matches. Unlike future cinematic matches (which typically air during one segment), the match aired during several segments in between matches inside the ring, and featured both pre-taped segments outside the Arrowhead Pond of the two fighting as well as Piper “chasing” Goldust’s solid gold Cadillac in a white Ford Bronco in an obvious reference to the then-ongoing O. J. Simpson murder case. (Vince McMahon mentioned on commentary without completely breaking kayfabe that the “footage looked awfully familiar”; in reality, repurposed footage of Simpson’s infamous Bronco chase was actually used as part of the match.) The match eventually ended in the ring live, when Piper stripped Goldust down to women’s lingerie and kissed him as part of “making him a man”.[10] WrestleMania XII featured a second cinematic match between “The Huckster” and “Nacho Man”.

At SummerSlam 1996, The Undertaker faced Mankind in a “Boiler Room Brawl” that was largely pre-taped, incorporating props and unorthodox camera angles.

In 2016, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling) held a match entitled the “Final Deletion” between brothers Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy for the July 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, which was filmed at Matt Hardy’s compound. It was a hardcore wrestling match with falls count anywhere.[11] The sequel was a brawl between The Broken Hardys and Decay titled “Delete or Decay”.[12] The Broken Hardys and Decay continued their feud at Bound for Glory, where Decay lost their TNA World Tag Team Championship to The Hardys in “The Great War”. The Hardys issued an open tag team invitational at their compound on the December 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, titled Total Nonstop Deletion. The main event was the “Tag Team Apocalypto” where The Hardys last defeated Decay.[13]
Although not contested as a match, WWE followed this up shortly after and filmed a cinematic-style brawl between The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) and The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Braun Strowman) that was held at The Wyatt Family Compound and shown on the July 11, 2016 episode of WWE Raw.[14] WWE then taped their own cinematic match for their 2017 pay-per-view Payback, called a House of Horrors match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. Similar to the “Final Deletion” match in TNA, this one was held at an abandoned house, but instead of falls count anywhere, this match had to end in the ring in the arena that the event was held in (the House of Horrors scenes were pre-taped, while the in-ring portion was live).[15] The next cinematic match would occur on the March 19, 2018 episode of Raw, which featured Matt Hardy, who had returned to WWE and became “Woken” Matt Hardy, against Bray Wyatt and was called the “Ultimate Deletion;” this was just like the “Final Deletion,” including being held at Matt’s compound.[16]
Cinematic matches became more frequent in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; the pandemic began affecting the professional wrestling industry in March that year, forcing promotions to hold events behind closed doors. WWE would hold several cinematic matches at their pay-per-views between March and August, being highly praised for the two that occurred at WrestleMania 36; a Boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles, which was a Buried Alive match held at a custom built cemetery set in the Orlando area,[17][7] and a Firefly Fun House match between John Cena and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. (Although the match ended with The Fiend pinning Cena in a ring, the match itself was a dream-like sequence of Cena’s career, showing his perceived character flaws; the various segments were filmed at WWE’s Titan Towers headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut).[18][19] Following this, cinematic matches occurred at Money in the Bank in May, which was the event’s eponymous ladder matches that occurred at WWE’s headquarters,[20] a Backlot Brawl between Adam Cole and Velveteen Dream in the parking lot of Full Sail University at NXT TakeOver: In Your House in June,[21] a cinematically produced singles match between Edge and Randy Orton at Backlash also in June,[22] and a Wyatt Swamp Fight between Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules in July.[23] Since the introduction of the WWE ThunderDome and Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) staging arenas in August and October, respectively, cinematic matches have been minimally produced by WWE, as these new staging arenas allow fans to attend the events virtually. To go with the Halloween-theme at NXT: Halloween Havoc in October, a Haunted House of Terrors match was held between Dexter Lumis and Cameron Grimes, which was similar to the House of Horrors match from Payback 2017.[24] Matches involving Randy Orton, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, and Alexa Bliss have also used cinematic techniques, such as the Firefly Inferno match between Orton and The Fiend at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December, where Orton set The Fiend’s entire body on fire,[25] and an intergender match between Orton and Bliss at Fastlane in March 2021, where Bliss used supernatural powers.[26]
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) also incorporated cinematic matches during pandemic restrictions in 2020 to 2021, most notably the Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing 2020, which was a 5v5 empty arena match in the TIAA Bank Field stadium.[27][8] During that period, AEW featured at least one cinematic match at each of their PPVs: a “Tooth and Nail match” at All Out 2020 between Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Big Swole at Baker’s real-life dental office,[28] a match entitled “The Elite Deletion” at Full Gear 2020, featuring Matt Hardy against Sammy Guevara and similar to the other “Deletion” matches involving Hardy,[9] and a tag team street fight pitting Darby Allin and Sting against Team Taz (Brian Cage and Ricky Starks) at Revolution 2021, which was held at an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Atlanta, Georgia.[29] At Double or Nothing 2021 the Stadium Stampede match was a hybrid cinematic match with the first half recorded at TIAA Bank Field. then concluding live at Daily’s Place. The audience in attendance watched the first half of the match on video screens before the action spilled into the amphitheater.

Impact Wrestling would also return to producing cinematic matches in 2021 when Ethan Page wrestled his alter ego “The Karate Man” at Hard to Kill in a Mortal Kombat–style cinematic match that saw The Karate Man “kill” Page in what would be Page’s last appearance with Impact before leaving for AEW.

Container-based variations [ edit ]
Some matches have a container stationed in or near the ring, with the object of the match being to trap the opposing wrestler in it. All of these matches are fought under hardcore rules, and many of these matches take the name of the container, such as Ambulance match and the Casket match. A similar type of match aims to restrain opposing wrestlers somehow, and the match often takes the name of the restraining device – for example, the Stretcher. None of these matches can end in a pinfall, submission, countout, or disqualification.

Common containers used for these matches are caskets (connected to The Undertaker’s Deadman persona, either using a typical coffin or a double-deep, double-wide casket, sometimes specially designed for specific opponents The Undertaker takes on), ambulances, dumpsters, hearses (known as a “Last Ride match”, also connected to The Undertaker gimmick), and stretchers.

Ambulance match [ edit ]
An Ambulance match is fought under hardcore rules, no pinfalls, no submissions, no disqualifications, no countouts and the only way to win is for one wrestler to force their opponent into the back of an ambulance and close the door. The first ambulance match took place at Survivor Series 2003 where Kane defeated Shane McMahon. The second one took place at Elimination Chamber (2012) which also involved Kane as one of the competitors. His opponent was John Cena, who won the match, where an additional rule was added in that the ambulance has to leave to win. The third Ambulance match was part of Three stages of Hell match at WWE Payback on June 16, 2013, in Rosemont, Illinois between John Cena and Ryback for the WWE Championship. The most recent was at WWE Clash of Champions in September 2020, between Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.

Buried Alive match [ edit ]
A Buried Alive match is in which the object is for one wrestler to throw his opponent into a grave dug out of a large mound of soil placed outside the ring. Once in the grave, the wrestler must bury his opponent in dirt and soil to the referee’s discretion.[30] Equipment ranging from shovels and wheelbarrows to bulldozers are often made available to completely bury the opponent. The Buried Alive match is one of three of The Undertaker’s signature matches (casket match and last ride match match being the others).

A cinematic Buried Alive match was held between The Undertaker and AJ Styles for WrestleMania 36, referred to as a “Boneyard match” . The match took place outdoors in a cemetery-like setting near an abandoned warehouse, rather than in a traditional ring.[31][32]
Casket match [ edit ]
The casket match (originally known as the coffin match) has a casket near the ring, with the objective of the match being to trap the opposing wrestler inside.[33] The casket match began its life as a one-off coffin match in the 1970s fought between Dusty Rhodes and Ivan Koloff.[34][35][36] The coffin match was revived as one of The Undertaker’s signature matches and first appeared on television at the Survivor Series as the coffin match against Kamala. Prior to that, at a house show on July 14, 1991, the Ultimate Warrior defeated the Undertaker in a casket match in St. Louis, Missouri at Busch Stadium. There have been 17 casket matches, 11 of which have been won by The Undertaker.

In addition to WWE, the casket match has recently been adopted for use in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Lucha Underground, with Lucha Underground denominating it as the Grave Consequences (subsequently Graver Consequences) match. Another toned-down version of the Casket Match is when a victory is not obtained by placing the opponent in the coffin but by pinfall or submission. However, the defeated wrestler is then placed into the coffin.

Last Rites match [ edit ]
The Last Rites match is a TNA variation where a casket is lowered into the center of the ring, and the objective is to get your opponent into the casket, which is raised to the ceiling following the match. Only one Last Rites match was done, between Sting and Abyss. Vince Russo came up with this match, the match was perceived to be a disaster because neither wrestler could work properly due the placement of the casket in the center of the ring, which limited and obstructed their work space. The match went over so badly that during the match, the enraged crowd screamed “Fire Russo!” so loudly that the commentators had to yell into their microphones to be heard.

Dumpster match [ edit ]
A dumpster match is a no-disqualification, no-countout, no-fall match which is won by forcing your opponent into a dumpster and closing the lid. The first one was at WrestleMania XIV, pitting The New Age Outlaws against Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie.

Last Ride match [ edit ]
A Last Ride match is a hardcore match in which the victory condition is for one wrestler to force their opponent into the back of a hearse, close the door, and drive it out of the arena. The first match of this type occurred at No Mercy when The Undertaker challenged John “Bradshaw” Layfield for the WWE Championship, although a match was held previously with similar stipulations. The second match of this type occurred at Armageddon when The Undertaker challenged Mr Kennedy and defeated him.

Stretcher match [ edit ]
A stretcher at ringside prior to a stretcher match

In the stretcher match, one wrestler must incapacitate their opponent to such an extent that they are able to get them onto a stretcher and roll them to the finish line; usually past a line at the top of the entrance ramp. The first match of this type was different as a wrestler lost if after being pushed out of the ring, four medics were able to load him on a “carry” stretcher, pick him up all the way, and start walking out with him.

Enclosure-based variations [ edit ]
Some matches take place in specific enclosed environments. Although the majority of these enclosures are set up either in or around the ring, some of them are placed apart from it. In all cases, the structure itself is considered “in play” and most enclosure-based matches are decided by pinfall or submission unless specific other stipulations are made beforehand.

Steel Cage match [ edit ]
A steel cage match at a 2013 Impact Wrestling event

Steel cages are one of the oldest form of enclosures used in professional wrestling. The earliest known “steel cage matches” of any kind took place on January 9, 1936, in Caruthersville, Missouri, in a card that included two such “chicken wire fence” matches between Jez and Otto Ludwig, and Joe Dillman vs. Charles Sinkey.[37] These matches took place in a ring surrounded by chicken wire, to keep the athletes inside, and prevent any potential interference.[38] They have evolved a great deal over time, changing from chicken wire[39] to steel bars to chain-link fencing (the latter is now the standard, due to it being cheaper to manufacture, lighter to transport, and more flexible and thus safer for the wrestlers).

A steel cage match is a match fought within a cage formed by placing sheets of mesh metal around, in, or against the edges of the wrestling ring. The most common way of winning is by simply escaping the cage, either over the top of the cage wall and having both feet touch the arena floor, or by escaping through the cage door with both feet touching the arena floor. The other occasional ways to win a steel cage match are by pinfall or by submission.

It is also possible to have one wrestler attempting to escape over the top of the cage wall while another tries to escape through the cage door.[40] In Mexico, steel cage matches are won by just climbing to the top of the cage wall. In Impact Wrestling’s past, the matches were often called “six sides of steel” as the cage surrounded their six-sided ring. WWE also used the “classic blue cage” during the heights of the Attitude Era.

Asylum match [ edit ]
The Asylum match is the name given to two different types of matches, both involving a chain link cage in the shape of a circle placed in the middle of the ring.

The first Asylum match type was a match created by Scott Steiner in WCW, held within a small chain link cage in the shape of a circle placed in the middle of the ring. Victory occurred only by submission.

On May 16, 2016, a second type of Asylum match was introduced and scheduled between Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho at Extreme Rules, a variation to the steel cage match where weapons are suspended above the cage and escaping the cage is not a means of victory, leaving only pinfall or submission.

On August 10, 2019, a third type of Asylum match, which also included a barbed wire steel cage stipulation (a type of match where the steel cage door is locked with chains and a padlock) was introduced after Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano tied one to one after a normal match and a no holds barred match at NXT TakeOver: Toronto (2019) where weapons are connected to the steel cage and barbed wire on the top.

Barbed Wire Steel Cage match [ edit ]
A barbed wire steel cage match is a match that uses strands of barbed wire in a steel cage match in some capacity, usually around the top of the cage. Simply using barbed wire in an otherwise regular steel cage match does not make the match a barbed wire steel cage match; the barbed wire must be part of the cage’s design. This type of match is one where escape from the cage is almost impossible, because in addition to the barbed wire preventing escape over the top of the cage, the cage’s door is also locked with chains and a padlock, like a Hell in a Cell match. One particular example was John “Bradshaw” Layfield vs. Big Show at No Way Out 2005 where in addition to the barbed wire there was also razor wire wrapped around the top of the cage in a circular fashion; and another example was Adam Cole vs Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: Toronto 2019 where in addition to the barbed wire and the chain-locked door, various weapons were made available at the top of the cage; this cage however did not have razor wire.[41]
Razor Wire Steel Cage match [ edit ]
Other variations are the razor wire steel cage match, a similar concept to that of the barbed wire cage match, however the barbed wire is replaced by razor wire and is wrapped around the top, corners, and walls of the cage, and barbed wire razor wire steel cage match is the same as the barbed wire cage match, however the top, corners, and walls of the cage are covered with barbed wire, then also further covered with razor wire.

Cage of Death match [ edit ]
The Cage of Death match is type of steel cage match with various weapons littered in the cage, such as electrified cage walls, cacti, tables, light tubes, glass, thumbtacks, baseball bats, barbed wire and numerous other weapons and objects have been used in it. This match always features as the main event of CZW’s biggest show, Cage of Death.

Chamber match [ edit ]
In TNA, the chamber match starts off between two wrestlers (or up to six) fighting inside a chamber. Wrestlers who were not involved in the match surrounded the chamber. About five minutes into the match, the outside wrestlers throw weapons into the chamber. This match only ends when one wrestler knocks out his opponent.

Chamber of Extreme match [ edit ]
The Chamber of Extreme match, came from Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW), in which the 8-feet-high steel cage which surrounds the ringside area with the top wrapped in barbed wire and “extreme” weapons scattered around the ring and ringside area. Disqualifications, count-outs and rope-breaks do not apply. The winner is decided by pinfall, submission or being unable to stand up at 10-count.

Chamber of Horrors match [ edit ]
A Chamber of Horrors match was an enclosed steel cage match between two teams of four men. In the middle of the cage there was a smaller cage with an electric chair connected to a lever. The way to win this match is to put the opponent in the chair and switch the lever on (which was attached to the outer cage and six feet off the ground), so as, in kayfabe, the person is electrocuted. This match was used in WCW only once, with Abdullah the Butcher being electrocuted accidentally by his teammate Cactus Jack after being placed in the chair at the last second by Rick Steiner.

Dixieland match [ edit ]
A Dixieland match (named for TNA President Dixie Carter, who “invented” the match) is a hybrid steel cage/ladder match. The wrestlers start the match in the ring enclosed in a steel cage. To win the match, a wrestler must first climb out of the cage, then go up the entrance ramp where a championship belt is hung from the ceiling, and finally climb a ladder to retrieve the belt. The first match of this type occurred during the Impact Wrestling: Final Resolution taping on December 3, 2013, as Magnus defeated Jeff Hardy to become TNA World Heavyweight Champion.[42]
Doomsday Cage match [ edit ]
Also called a Tower of Doom, the Doomsday Cage is a three-story cage – the middle one split into two rooms – all of which house wrestlers. The object of the match is for a team of wrestlers to fight their way from the top cage to the bottom, where pinfalls and submissions come into play.[43][44] In the later days of WCW, it was referred to as a Triple Decker Cage match, a reference to the match type being used in the finale of the film Ready to Rumble. The most notable match of this type occurred at WCW’s Uncensored event in 1996, when Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage fought Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Meng, The Barbarian, Lex Luger, Kevin Sullivan, Z-Gangsta, and The Ultimate Solution.

Doomsday Chamber of Blood match [ edit ]
The Doomsday Chamber of Blood match was created by Abyss, even though he was never known as a creative genius; however this match came from the mind of the monster. This match is a lethal combination of the Barbed Wire Cage, Six Sides of Steel and Sadistic Madness. Also, The cage has a barbed wire roof on top. This match can be won by making your opponent bleed first then pin your opponent only. Matt Morgan and Abyss competed in one of these matches at TNA’s Lockdown (2009) pay-per-view.

Electrified Cage match [ edit ]
The Electricfied Cage match is a match where the ring is surrounded by an electrified steel cage. The cage can be also used as a weapon. The only way to win is by pinfall or submission. The Lucha en Jaula Electrificada is another variation of the electrified cage match which the only way to win is by escape. The cage is turned off in a time interval, allowing the participants a chance at escape before it turns back on. Used by the AAA promotion in Mexico.

Elimination Chamber match [ edit ]
The original Elimination Chamber structure

The Elimination Chamber (known as No Escape in Germany to avoid a potential brand blunder over references of gas chambers in The Holocaust), which was the result of an idea by Triple H and introduced by Eric Bischoff for WWE in 2002, is a steel cage with a grid-locked, chain-linked enclosure with support bars that surrounds the ring entirely, including creating a steel grated (later padded) floor area on the apron. Inside the cage, at each turnbuckle, is a clear pod in which competitors in the match wait to join the match. As the name implies, this is an elimination-style match, so wrestlers are eliminated one-by-one via pinfall or submission until only one remains.[45]
An Extreme Elimination Chamber took place at the 2006 December to Dismember pay-per-view, where each waiting wrestler was given a weapon. Since 2010, WWE has held an eponymous Elimination Chamber pay-per-view every February, with this match type as one of its marquee matches. At its 2018 edition, the first-ever women’s Elimination Chamber match was held, as well as the first seven-man Elimination Chamber match.

Fight Pit match [ edit ]
The Fight Pit match is a variation of a cage match where the ring is surrounded by a steel cage rather than ropes and turnbuckles, with a catwalk surrounding the top. The catwalk has metal railings surrounding the outer edge, which the wrestlers can climb up to and jump from. The match also has a no-pinfall stipulation, which means it can only be won by submission or being unable to stand up at a 10-count. The inaugural fight pit match was held during the May 27, 2020 episode of NXT, between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher (with Kurt Angle as a guest referee).[46]
Hell in a Cell match [ edit ]
The Hell in a Cell match is a specific kind of enclosure match run by WWE inside a 4-sided cuboid steel cage made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fencing, which extends beyond the ring apron, leaving a gap between the edge of the ring and the Cell wall. As opposed to a conventional steel cage, the cell fencing continues across the top as a ceiling, hence the name ‘Cell’. Unlike a standard cage match, there is no escape clause because the door of the Cell is locked with chains and a padlock from the outside by referees to prevent the combatants from escaping (although it has been fairly common for Hell in a Cell matches to spill out of the cell and even onto the roof of the cage). The match has a no disqualification “anything goes” stipulation, and can only be won via pinfall or submission inside the ring.

Because of the “anything goes” rule, this match developed an infamous reputation in its early years. This match usually takes place on pay-per-view shows (there have only been four exceptions: three Cell Matches occurred on Raw in 1998, 2011 (as a dark match), and 2021, while the first-ever Cell Match on Smackdown happened on June 18, 2021). Many wrestlers were legitimately injured during these matches (most notably Mick Foley) thanks to the dangerous bumps involved and the chain-link fencing of the Cell. In kayfabe, it is regarded as the most dangerous match in the entire promotion. Jim Ross has referred to the cell itself as “a demonic structure” that is “custom built for injury.” There have been 49 Hell in a Cell matches to date, with The Undertaker competing in 14 (with his last at WrestleMania 32), more than any other WWE performer. The first Hell in a Cell match was between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels at Badd Blood: In Your House in St. Louis in October 1997.

Kennel from Hell match [ edit ]
A Kennel from Hell match was held at WWF’s Unforgiven pay-per-view in 1999, between Al Snow and The Big Boss Man for the WWF Hardcore Championship. The match was held within a steel cage, but with the Hell in a Cell cage also placed over the steel cage and the ring. The objective of the match was to escape through the door of the outer Hell in a Cell cage first, with the added obstacle of hostile attack dogs that would roam the apron between the two cages. This match was conceived by Vince Russo as part of Snow’s short-lived feud with The Big Boss Man—in which he had kidnapped and killed his pet chihuahua Pepper.[47][48][49]
After being unable to obtain trained attack dogs, Russo sought dogs from local owners on short notice. The dogs were playful and friendly towards Russo, and during the match, they were seen urinating, defecating, and trying to mate with one another rather than making any attempt at attacking the wrestlers when they stepped outside the steel cage. The match was deemed by critics to be one of the worst gimmick matches, if not one of the worst matches ever, in WWE history.[47][48][49]
Inferno match [ edit ]
In an Inferno match (a type of no-disqualification, no-fall, no-countout match), the ring is completely surrounded by flames once both contenders have entered the ring. The only way to win is to set your opponent on fire. Inferno matches usually end on the outside of the ring; this way, paramedics can assist the loser of the match. Due to the potentially graphic or dangerous nature of this type of match, it is very rarely seen in North America. As of December 2020 , there have only been six inferno matches in WWE, with almost all of them have involved Kane, this being his signature match.[50]
The first inferno match took place in 1987 at the Juan Pachin Vicens coliseum in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where the ropes were simply soaked with gasoline and lit on fire.[51] The first WWF Inferno Match was between Kane and The Undertaker at 1998 Unforgiven pay-per-view in Greensboro, North Carolina, where special effects and pyrotechnics experts were brought in from Hollywood to set up and control the fire around the ring. Kane had been thrown out of the ring and The Undertaker had no way of attacking him unless he too went out of the ring. The match ended in The Undertaker’s victory. WCW also attempted an Inferno match, known as the Human Torch match, at The Great American Bash in 2000 between Sting and Vampiro.

A version of the match known as the “Firefly Inferno match” was held at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in 2020, between “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton; its title referenced Wyatt’s “Firefly Fun House” gimmick.[52]
Ring of Fire match [ edit ]
Another variation of the Inferno match dubbed a “Ring of Fire match”, took place at SummerSlam in 2013, when Kane faced Bray Wyatt. While the ring is surrounded by flames just like in a standard Inferno match, the match is decided by pinfall or submission and not by burning your opponent. In addition, the flames prevent others from possibly interfering in the match, as was the case with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family.

Lethal Lockdown match [ edit ]
Similar to the WarGames match used in WCW, TNA/Impact Wrestling’s Lethal Lockdown consists of a single ring enclosed by a steel cage with two teams facing off with each other. The staggered entry system is identical, but weapons are permitted and are even provided. When all competitors have entered the ring, a roof is lowered onto the top of the cage, with various weapons hanging from it. Victory can be attained by pinfall or submission. This match has become a staple of TNA’s Lockdown pay-per-view event, but has also made appearances at other TNA pay-per-views.

Lion’s Den match [ edit ]
The Lion’s Den match is a match where a wrestler must knock out their opponent unconscious or make them submit inside an octagonal cage. The rules are made to mimic mixed martial arts matches, with the octagonal cage meant to mimic the cage used by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This was Ken Shamrock’s specialty match; the first example was at the SummerSlam (1998) pay-per-view between Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart (with Dan Severn), and then another example was the SummerSlam (1999) pay-per-view with Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman.

Moonlight Sonata match [ edit ]
The Moonlight Sonata match is held inside a barbed-wire cage with a ropeless ring. Various weapons, such as steel chairs, neon tubes or kendo sticks, are scattered around the ring and the match is fought under hardcore rules. On each corner of the cage are hanged bags, one of which contains the belt, while the other three are full of thumbtacks. In order to win, a contestant has to climb the cage using the protuberances on its corners, find the belt and get out.

Another variation of the match involves a normal cage (not barbed-wire) and lacks the step-like protuberances.

Punjabi Prison match [ edit ]
The Punjabi Prison match, named after the Punjab state that The Great Khali (the match’s founder) is billed from, consists of two large steel-reinforced bamboo cages. The first is four sided and stands 16 feet (4.8 m) tall, while the second has eight sides and stands 20 feet (6 m) and surrounds the first.[53]
The inner cage has a four-foot (1.2 m) by four-foot door on each of its sides, with a referee standing by to open them at a wrestler’s request. Each door may only be opened once and is only allowed to remain open for sixty seconds, after which it is padlocked. Should all four doors end up locked before the wrestlers escape, they are forced to climb out over the top, where the bamboo is fashioned into spikes. Between the two cages are sometimes placed two tables, on which are weapons (both “medieval” and “bamboo” variations of standard wrestling weapons). There are also extended straps at the corners of the cage which can be used to choke the opponent. Once a wrestler has escaped the first cage, he must climb over and out of the second cage, with the first wrestler having both of their feet touch the arena floor is the winner of the match.[54][55]
The match was revived with modifications in 2017 as the main event of Battleground, which featured the Indian-Canadian Jinder Mahal facing Randy Orton for the WWE Championship; The Great Khali made a surprise run-in to assist Mahal.

Rage in a Cage match [ edit ]
The Rage in a Cage match is held in an oval-shaped steel cage. It is typically used as the arena for the blowoff match of a feud and can be used for a tag team or singles match. In this match, wins are usually by pinfall or submission. Alternatively, Rage in a Cage may refer to the match that held in an Florida independent organization such as NWA Florida in which 20 or more wrestlers take part in a battle royal inside the oval-shaped steel cage. Each wrestler is encouraged to bring different weapons to the match, and a wrestler is eliminated by being thrown through the cage door. The last man standing wins.

Scramble Cage match [ edit ]
The Scramble Cage match was contested exclusively in Ring of Honor (ROH), in which the ring is surrounded by a steel cage with four wooden platforms at the corners of the cage to make the “high risk” wrestling moves. All participants are allowed to be inside and outside the cage at any time. The Scramble Cage Melee is an elimination cage match held in a cage similar to the one used in the Scramble Cage match, with wooden platforms on the top corners. There are no pinfalls or submissions; wrestlers are eliminated only by aerial moves performed from the platforms.

The first and only (as of 2021 ) such match took place in ROH on August 24, 2004, at the show Scramble Cage Melee. The competitors in this match were Jack Evans, Trent Acid, Loc, Devito, Dan Maff, BJ Whitmer, Oman Turtuga, Diablo Santiago, Fast Eddie, Altar Boy Luke, Dunn, and Marcos.

Thundercage [ edit ]
Domo de la Muerte AAA’s

World Championship Wrestling’s Thundercage, based on the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, is a large domed structure of steel bars engulfing the ring. Although it does not have a top, the sides curve in to prevent escape.

Mexico’s AAA promotion tweaked the concept with the Domo de la Muerte (“Dome of Death”), which uses a similar cage but only allows victory by escaping through a hole at the top center. This variation is also used in TNA, where it was called the TerrorDome, or more recently the Steel Asylum. In AAA it is typically used for multi-man “luchas de apuestas” (bet matches), with the last man standing in the cage losing his mask or hair.

The Thunderdome is a variation on the Thundercage, with the area near the top of the cage electrified. The only way for a wrestler to win the Thunderdome match is to have their opponents’ “terminator” (usually a manager who stands outside of the ring) throw in the towel to stop the match. In another variation of this match, each pinned competitor in the match is handcuffed to the cage.[56] The last man left is given a key to unlock his teammates to attack the other team, who are still handcuffed.[56]
Triple Cage match [ edit ]
Triple cage matches have been held by WCW and its predecessor, Jim Crockett Promotions, in which two smaller cages are stacked on top of the cage enclosing the ring.

At The Great American Bash in 1988, a “Tower of Doom” match was held, in which two teams attempted to make their way from the uppermost cage to the bottom, with victory achieved when all five members of a team escaped a door there. The cages were cut off from each other, with doors controlled from outside by referees, who only opened them for two-minute intervals.

At Uncensored in 1996, a “Doomsday Cage Match” was held where Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage faced off against the Alliance to End Hulkamania, which consisted of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, The Taskmaster, Lex Luger, Meng, The Barbarian, The Ultimate Solution and Z-Gangsta. Hogan and Savage had to start at the top of the three tiered structure, and on each level there were members of the Alliance waiting for them. The structure featured scaffolding with steps on it to enable the wrestlers to traverse it, with the object being to make it to the bottom cage where the ring was and score a fall to win.

A triple cage match at WCW’s Slamboree in 2000 was held between David Arquette, Diamond Dallas Page, and Jeff Jarrett; it was conducted similarly to a ladder match, with the objective being for the competitors to make their way to the roof of the third cage, and retrieve the championship belt. The roof of the first cage—which extended beyond the apron–had a trapdoor leading to the second cage, which contained weapons. The competitors then had to exit through a side door in the second cage, and climb the structure to reach the belt above the third cage. The third cage contained guitars, used for Jarrett’s signature move.

The same year, WCW conducted another match using the same structure, “WarGames 2000: Russo’s Revenge”, on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro. Despite sharing its name with WCW’s well-known WarGames match, its only similarity was its use of teams. A belt was placed inside the uppermost cage, with the first team to have a member escape from the bottom cage with the belt being declared the winner.

WarGames match [ edit ]
Sometimes suffixed with the tagline “The Match Beyond”, the WarGames match features two rings surrounded by an enclosed steel cage (usually with a roof), with two teams (or sometimes three) of four or five wrestlers facing one another. After a portion of the match fought one-on-one, members of the two teams begin to alternate entering the other ring at staggered intervals (with the order decided by a coin toss); once both teams’ members have all entered the ring, the first team to score submission or surrender over a member of the opposing team is declared the winner. Depending on the rules used, a team may also win by scoring a knockout or pinfall.

This match was made famous by Jim Crockett Promotions’ annual Great American Bash, and later WCW’s Wrestle War, before becoming a tradition at their annual Fall Brawl pay-per-view event from 1993 to 1998. At Fall Brawl 1998, a three-team WarGames match was held, with pinfalls counting. An in name only revamp of WarGames, “WarGames 2000”, was held on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro.

ECW held its own version of WarGames known as an “Ultimate Jeopardy steel cage match” (typically as part of an eponymous event), with weapons available, pinfalls counting, and the losing team receiving a stipulation as a penalty. In 2017, WWE’s NXT brand began to hold a live event known as NXT TakeOver: WarGames, which feature a version of the WarGames match as their signature event. The NXT version of WarGames does not use a roofed cage, and pinfalls count.[57][58] In 2021, AEW held a WarGames match between The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle as a “Blood and Guts match”, during an eponymous special episode of its weekly series Dynamite. AEW adopted the WarGames rules that were used by WCW, with a roofed cage and no pinfalls.[57][58]
Xscape match [ edit ]
The Xscape match has been held by TNA/Impact Wrestling as one of the signature matches of its Lockdown pay-per-view, which exclusively features cage matches. The match begins with four to eight competitors, who are eliminated by either pinfall or submission; eliminated wrestlers leave the cage through a door. When only two competitors remain, the first to escape the cage by climbing out and reaching the floor is declared the winner.

Flag match [ edit ]
The flag match is essentially the professional wrestling version of capture the flag. For the match two flags are placed on opposite turnbuckles, each representing a specific wrestler or team of wrestlers and the objective of the match is to retrieve the opponent’s flag and raise it while defending the flag in the wrestler’s corner.[59] If the referee is knocked down and cannot acknowledge the win, the defender can put the flag back in its place, thus resetting the match.[60]
Anthem match [ edit ]
An Anthem match is a variation of a flag match with the added stipulation that the national anthem of the winning wrestler’s or team’s home country will be played in the arena after the match, similarly to a medal ceremony. This can be used to promote patriotism for the face wrestler or heat for the heel wrestler. Another variation of the Anthem Match can be a regular Interpromotion match between two wrestlers, each usually representing a different promotion, fighting for the right to raise the flag of their respected promotion. This variation was only used at ECW’s November to Remember 1997 in a match between Rob Van Dam (representing WWE) vs. Tommy Dreamer (representing ECW) which ended in a no-contest.

Handicap match [ edit ]
A handicap match is any match pitting one wrestler or team of wrestlers against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as (two against one) or (three against two) for quick examples. Normally the babyfaces are outnumbered with the heels having more members on their team to provide an unfair advantage.[61] In some two-on-one handicap matches, the team with superior numbers act under tag team rules, with one person in the ring at a time. In others, such as tornado tag team handicap matches, all competitors are in the ring at the same time.[62] In the 1980s and 1990s, handicap matches were used in preliminary matches involving large star wrestlers (usually heels), such as King Kong Bundy, Big Van Vader or Yokozuna, who – as a way to get a monster heel persona/gimmick over with the crowd – would completely dominate their opponents despite the latter’s superiority in numbers.

Hardcore-based variations [ edit ]
Hardcore wrestling, the most violent and bloody type of professional wrestling is a subset in which some or all of the traditional rules do not apply. Most often this simply means there are no-disqualifications, which itself eliminates countouts, sometimes allowing decisions to take place anywhere. Most hardcore matches or deathmatches often have a combination of match types within one, and elaborate titles are often used, particularly in Japanese wrestling promotions. (example: “Barbed Wire Rope, Exploding Barbed Wire Boards and Exploding Ring Time Bomb Deathmatch”)

Some promotions, such as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, the International Wrestling Association of Japan, International Wrestling Syndicate, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Big Japan Pro Wrestling, and Combat Zone Wrestling, have specialized in hardcore matches, with “standard” non-hardcore matches being the exception.

Hardcore match [ edit ]
A standard hardcore match, also known as an Extreme Rules match, a Devil’s Playground match, a Belfast Brawl match or a Guerrilla Warfare match is a no-disqualification, no-countout, falls count anywhere, one-fall match where the only rule (unless specifically noted) is to achieve a fall by pinning the opponent for a 3-count or making them submit. Otherwise, anything goes: any weapon can be used, any amount of wrestlers who are not booked in the match can be involved, either wrestler booked in the match can be pinned anywhere and any move can be used (except moves banned by the promotion booking the match before-hand). Hardcore matches came to prominence in Japan in the 1970s, and then in the United States in the 1990s in promotions like ECW and later WWE. Blunt objects such as steel chairs, wooden event tables, ladders, wrestling ring stairs, kendo sticks, baseball bats, flour, metal cylindrical trashcans, trashcan lids and road signs are often featured in hardcore matches. Other common euphemisms for hardcore matches are the No Holds Barred match (which suggests wrestlers uses any illegal moves are allowed), Street Fight (which suggests wrestlers are to dress in normal street clothes), and World Championship Wrestling used the term Raven’s rules for hardcore matches involving the wrestler Raven. They also created their own specific brand of hardcore match, for which bouts were to begin backstage rather than in the ring.[63]
Unsanctioned match [ edit ]
A variant of a hardcore match is a non-sanctioned match or unsanctioned match, also called a lights out match. In addition to the match not having any rules and the objective being achieving a pinfall or submission anywhere, the match is not officially recognized by the promotion (such as in All Elite Wrestling, where the match does not count towards a wrestler’s win–loss record). In kayfabe, the match is sometimes used when a wrestler is “injured” (at the hands of another wrestler) and wants revenge but cannot be “medically cleared,” thus he agrees to a non-sanctioned match where “the promotion is not held liable” for any injuries incurred during the match.

Deathmatch [ edit ]
A more extreme version of a hardcore match, a deathmatch is effectively the same as a hardcore match only even more violent and bloody, hence why the match is called a “deathmatch”. In addition to blunt objects, deathmatches often include sharp objects and even more dangerous objects and elements, such as bricks, nails, staple guns, explosives, thumbtacks, barbed wire, light tubes, standard glass, cactus plants, gardening tools (such as weed wackers) and even fire mixed with lighter fluid or gasoline. Although hardcore matches do on occasion feature sharp objects- particularly hardcore matches with Mick Foley, they are not used in such a gratuitous manner as they are in deathmatches. Other common euphemisms for deathmatches are extreme rules match, ultraviolent rules match (hardcore rules matches exclusively in CZW) and HardKore X-Treme match.

Anus Explosion Deathmatch [ edit ]
An Anus Explosion Deathmatch is a match where the only way to win is to stick a firecracker up an opponent’s buttocks and light it. Once the firecracker goes off while lodged inside an incapacitated wrestler’s buttocks, the match ends. This match was only done once, by Japanese hardcore wrestling promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in October 1999, where Mr. Gannosuke faced off against Hayabusa.[64]
Barbed Wire Ring Rope match [ edit ]
Joey Kings (in white top, right) dropkicks Warhed into the barbed wire ropes

A barbed wire ring rope match or no rope barbed wire match is a match where the ring ropes are replaced with barbed wire. There are four known ways to prop up barbed wire in place of ring ropes: with three strands of barbed wire run from turnbuckle to turnbuckle; with five strands of wire tied to form an “X”; “spider net”, where the ring ropes are not replaced and barbed wire is wrapped up and down the ropes to create a wall of barbed wire, and finally barbed wire wrapped in the “X” fashion- that has been electrified or rigged with explosives. These types of matches were made popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s by American territory wrestling promotions, as well as Japanese promotions during the 1990s. These types of matches often included other stipulations and weapons in them.[65]
Barbed Wire Massacre [ edit ]
A Barbed Wire Massacre is a type of barbed wire rope match where the barbed wire ropes are set up in the “X” fashion and the use of additional items that have barbed wire attached to or wrapped around them are made available, such as plywood, baseball bats, steel folding chairs and other weapons. This match originated in TNA (now Impact Wrestling) in 2005. Since then, there have been four such matches, the most recent in 2021. However the fourth Barbed Wire Massacre match, unlike the first three did not remove the ring ropes and replace them with barbed wire. The Japanese Barbed Wire massacre is a variation of the barbed wire match differs from a normal barbed wire match in the fact that there are wooden boards covered with barbed wire and have a small charge goes off when someone lands on it.

Bath House Deathmatch [ edit ]
The Bath House Deathmatch was believed to have been started by IWA Japan in 1995, The wrestlers compete in the pool of a public bathhouse, with even naked or toweled women in this bath house during this match. Besides regular wrestling rules, if they leave the pool, they are disqualified. The pool is heated by a fire that is regularly fed more logs, making staying in it harder and harder.

Beds of Object(s) Deathmatch [ edit ]
The beds of object(s) deathmatch is a hardcore match that has beds of thumbtacks, nails, barbed wire, glass, broken lightbulbs and/or mixed.

Big Born Crisis Deathmatch [ edit ]
The Big Born Crisis Deathmatch starts out on a scaffold above a barbed wire net over a ring. The ring itself is surrounded by cactus, fire stones (electric space heaters wrapped in barbed wire) and dry ice. Thumbtacks are scattered in the ring. In the middle of the ring is a tank of scorpions. Various weapons including light bulbs, bats, drills, saws and swords are permitted. The match is fought with all members of two teams active at the same time under street fight rules. When all the wrestlers have fallen into the barbed wire net, the next phase of the match begins. The barbed wire net is removed and the match continues. Wrestlers leave the match by submission, by having their head put in the scorpion tank for ten seconds or by passing out.

Caribbean Barbed Wire Deathmatch [ edit ]
The Caribbean Barbed Wire Deathmatch is a match where barbed wire is wrapped around the ring ropes in “spidernet” fashion on two sides, and on the other two sides are barricaded traps on ground level situated right next to the ring. These elaborate traps are wooden structures featuring multiple strands of barbed wire strung from short adjacent wooden poles covered by panes of glass, with a thick wooden board below as foundation for the entire trap. The wooden poles stand 18 inches high on one side, and two feet on the other side. This match was featured in the W*ING hardcore wrestling promotion in Japan and was first done in 1993.

Circus Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Circus Deathmatch is a type of scaffold match where in the ring is a scaffold and under that scaffold, there is a type of spider net made of barbed wire six feet below. The first wrestler to fall off of the scaffold into the barbed wire spider net loses. The first match was between Mad Man Pondo and Ryuji Ito in Japan.[65]
Clockwork House of Fun match [ edit ]
The Clockwork House of Fun match, known as “Raven’s House of Fun” or simply “House of Fun”, was created by professional wrestler Raven (legitimately, as Raven pitched the idea himself to TNA’s creative team). It is a singles match for which poles attached to the ring posts measured about five to six feet above the turnbuckles, with single chains wrapped from and hanging on the poles to various points on the ring itself with many weapons hanging from and attached to steel chains above the ring, sometimes with sides of a steel cage attached to and erected on the ring.[66] In the first match the use of weapons is legal, and the only way to win was to put an opponent through two tables after throwing them off “Raven’s perch” (a small scaffold),[66] but afterwards it was changed to falls-count-anywhere rules.[67]
Crocodile Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Crocodile Deathmatch is an animal deathmatch, with the added stipulation that the loser must wrestle a crocodile at the completion of the match. An example of this match would be between Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and Shadow WX.

Desert Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Desert Deathmatch is a match where there is a tank full of scorpions is placed in the center of the ring, and the first wrestler placed in this tank for 10 seconds loses. There are also barbed wire boards in the ring, and also two cactus plants in the ring on two opposing corners.[65]
Double Hell Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Double Hell Deathmatch is a match where exploding (or non-exploding) barbed wire is put up at two sides of the ring in place of ropes, and the other two are left with nothing. However, at ringside on the empty sides, there are huge boards laden with barbed wire and landmines/explosives (and sometimes glass). This makes it a lot easier for a participant to fall out of the ring. One type of Double Hell Deathmatch done by FMW in 1994 was on a ring centered in a large swimming pool full of water, and the wrestlers had to be transported to the ring via a dinghy. This was an elimination-style match where the last man standing out of five was the winner. There were two ways to win this match: one via pinfall, or to toss a wrestler off the ring and into the pool, where explosives surrounding the ring would go off.[65]
Electric Pool match [ edit ]
The Electric Pool match was a very dangerous type of match which has only been held once. The ring was placed in a large pool of water, with no ropes on two sides of the ring, and exploding barbed wire on the other two sides of the ring. Wrestlers were transported to the ring via a dinghy, and the ring was put on a floating device, then it was surrounded by four metal barricades. There was a current running through these four barricades (which were essentially small sections of the pool enclosed off from the rest of the pool), enabling the water to “explode” when a wrestler was thrown into one of these barricaded areas. Considering the danger involved in allowing a current to run through water, this match was only used once in FMW in 1994, which was known for its extreme hardcore matches.

Explosion Deathmatch [ edit ]
The Explosion deathmatch is usually accompanied with barbed wire ropes, a large barbed wire wrapped explosion board is placed in the ring laced with a small amount of C-4. The loser is the wrestler that is blown up. The match can be won by either a pinfall or a submission. In some versions of the C-4 match is to finish the match before the timer runs out and detonates the ring (although this does not necessarily end the match) while in others the explosives are concentrated in a specific area, with the wrestlers struggling not to get pushed onto it.

All Elite Wrestling’s variation is an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch which is a combination of an Explosion Deathmatch, Barbed Wire Ring Rope match, Double Hell Deathmatch, and Time Bomb Deathmatch. There was three sides of barbed wire ring ropes with explosives triggered upon contact, three zones around the ringside floor wired to explosives (Triple Hell), and a 30-minute countdown timer until all explosives in and around the ring detonate.[68] The match was contested between Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship at Revolution, which Omega won.

Eye for an Eye match [ edit ]
A Eye for an Eye match is a hardcore match that could only be won when one competitor “extracts” an eye of their opponent. This match only occurred once between Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules.

Falls Count Anywhere match [ edit ]
A falls count anywhere match allows pinfalls to take place in any location, negating the standard rule that they must take place inside the ring and between the ropes. Submissions may or may not also be covered by this rule. This also eliminates the usual “countout” rule. A variation of the rules states that once a pinfall takes place, the pinned wrestler loses the match if they are unable to return to the ring within a specific amount of time – usually a referee’s count of 10 or 30. If the pinned wrestler makes it to the ring in this time, the match continues.[69] Occasionally, this stipulation is listed as having a specific territory in which falls count (e.g. the state, county, or general location the match is in).[70] As the match may take place in various parts of the arena,[71] the “falls count anywhere” provision is almost always accompanied with a “no-disqualification” stipulation to make the match a hardcore match, so as to allow wrestlers the convenience to use any objects they may find wherever they wrestle.[72]
Firestone Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Firestone Deathmatch is a standard deathmatch where the ring is lined with electric space heaters wrapped in barbed wire. The match can be lost by submission or when one of the wrestlers passes out. Also, The Brimstone Deathmatch is another variation where the only way to win is to throw your opponent in burning hot coals laid on the floor which forms a blistering perimeter that encircles the ring.

First Blood match [ edit ]
In a first blood match is a no-disqualification, no-fall, no-countout match in which the first wrestler to bleed anywhere loses the match. Depending on the nuance of the stipulation, this might include bleeding noses. Although there are no-disqualifications, outside interference cannot be seen causing the participant to bleed. The first televised First Blood match was Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kane at King of the Ring 1998, which was the main event match that came after the famous The Undertaker vs. Mankind Hell in a Cell match.

Doomsday Chamber of Blood match [ edit ]
A Doomsday Chamber of Blood match, created by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, is a First Blood match that takes place inside of a barbed wire topped cage.[73]
Sadistic Madness match [ edit ]
A Sadistic Madness match, created by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, is another variation of the First Blood match, the main difference being that the opponent must be bleeding before a wrestler can legally pin them.[74]
Four Corners of Pain match [ edit ]
A Four Corners of Pain match is a match where in each corner of the ring, there is a container that has a weapon or another type of harmful item. This match originated at the 2003 Combat Zone Wrestling Tournament of Death II, and at the 2006 IWA-MS Queen of the Deathmatch, Amy Lee took on Sexxxy Eddy in this match.[65]
Pools of Fuckery Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Pools of Fuckery Deathmatch is similar to a Four Corners of Pain match, only the harmful items in each corner are in small plastic pools. This match originated in the independent wrestling promotion Asylum Wrestling Revolution (AMR), where Mickie Knuckles faced Akira in this match in March 2021.[75]
Hard Ten match [ edit ]
The Hard Ten match was created by TNA. It is contested on a points system, where the points are earned for the use of weapons. The first wrestler to earn ten points and be at least two points ahead is the winner. Regular strikes with a weapon are worth one point while putting an opponent through a table is worth five points. Unlike the tables match, a wrestler simply moving out of the way and letting an opponent put them self through a table does count. This match type happens only once in TNA history.

Last Man/Woman Standing match [ edit ]
A last man standing match (or last woman standing) is a hardcore-style match in which the only way to win is by count out via standing, and a wrestler can be counted out anywhere. A wrestler will lose the match if they are unable to answer a ten-count after being downed, similar to the knockout rules of a boxing match. To avoid losing, the downed wrestler must be on their feet by the count of 10, but they can not lose by leaving the ring for 10-count (ring out) if they are still on his feet while recovering.[76]
Texas Deathmatch [ edit ]
A variant of the Last Man Standing match is the Texas Deathmatch (a.k.a. Mexican Deathmatch, or Armageddon Rules match), in which a wrestler must be pinned to a 3-count or made to submit/rendered unconscious before the referee will begin the ten-count. Some of these matches have been known to last for hours, including one that Dory Funk Jr. participated in that went on for more than four hours. This match was often done by Dory and his brother Terry Funk in the 1960s in their father Dory Sr.’s promotion Western States Sports.[77][78]
Light Tube Deathmatch [ edit ]
A light tube match is a match where hundreds (usually 200) of long, cylindrical, glass fluorescent light tubes are attached to the ring ropes (usually via tape), and mock shaped weapons and mock large objects made of light tubes are made available. These matches often end with most or all of the light tubes broken or shattered; these matches are some of the bloodiest, most gruesome and most dangerous types of wrestling matches because the glass in a light tube contains poisonous and carcinogenic chemicals, and when broken, the poisonous and carcinogenic dust from the shattered glass gets into the air and allows audience members, the referee and the wrestlers to breathe it in. Another hazard of this match is shards of broken glass still rife with dangerous chemicals laying around the ring mat and sticking in the wrestlers’ bodies (when they are slammed onto the wrestling mat), but with more organized wrestling promotions there are attendants that briefly enter the ring and quickly clean the broken glass off of the mat. This type of match originated in Japan in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Big Japan Pro Wrestling, and some independent promotions in the United States feature this type of match.

2/3 Light Tube Log cabins Deathmatch [ edit ]
A 2/3 Light Tube Log Cabins Deathmatch is a match where the only way to win is to break two shaped light tube weapons over and/or on an opponent. Combat Zone Wrestling has used this match in their Tournament of Death series.[65]
Monster’s Ball match [ edit ]
A Monster’s Ball match is a match invented and staged by TNA Impact Wrestling. The key premise of the match was that all contenders are sequestered alone in a locked room without light, food or water for twenty-four hours before the match. This stipulation is intended to induce extreme feelings of aggression in the competitors. Once released, the wrestlers fight one another in a hardcore match, with the usage of weapons encouraged. Victory can be achieved by pinfall or submission, with the match ending as soon as one wrestler is pinned or submits.

The Monster’s Ball match typically features numerous high spots. There have been 54 matches taking place under TNA, as well as several unaffiliated independent promotions hosting the match. The match has almost always featured Abyss in some capacity, wrestling in 48 and managing in one, as it is his signature match. There are various weapons frequently used in the match, including Thumb tacks, “Janice” (A board filled with nails, Abyss’s signature weapon) and a bed of barbed wire.[79]
No Disqualification match/No Holds Barred match [ edit ]
A No Disqualification match, also known as no holds barred match,[80] or sometimes as an “anything goes” match, “boot camp” match, “Raven’s rules” match, or “extreme rules” match, is a match in which neither wrestler can be disqualified, allowing for weapons and outside interference.[81] The key differences between a no holds barred match and a standard hardcore match are that in a no holds barred match, falls must be made in the ring and there is less emphasis on the use of weapons whereas in a hardcore match, not only are there no disqualifications, falls can happen anywhere.

No-disqualification matches may be used in feuds in which a challenger may have won matches against the champion, but did not claim the championship because the champion was disqualified (championships usually only change hands via pinfall or submission).

Unless stipulated, a no-disqualification match can end in a countout. Those that cannot are no-disqualification, no-countout matches.

Piranha Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Piranha Deathmatch or Amazon River Piranha Deathmatch, similar to a Desert Deathmatch is a type of highly dangerous match where a fish tank containing dangerous and flesh-eating Piranha fish is placed in the center of the ring, and the first wrestler who gets put into the tank for 10 seconds loses. There was only one match ever done, and it was at Big Japan Pro Wrestling’s Summer Night Dream event in Yokohama, Japan in September 1996, where in the main event Kendo Nagasaki put Mitsuhiro Matsunaga in the tank, defeating him.[65]
Razor Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Razor Deathmatch is an often extremely bloody match where boards full of razor blades are made available as weapons. This match is known for Japanese hardcore wrestler Jun Kasai’s 5-time participation in this kind of match.[82]
Spike Nail Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Spike Nail Deathmatch is a match where a large bed of six-inch spiked nails sticking out of a rectangular piece of plywood is made available. The most famous example of this kind of match was at the IWA Kawasaki Dream King of the Deathmatch, where Cactus Jack faced Shoji Nakamaki in August 1995. Another type of Spike Nail match was rather than achieving a fall to win, the first wrestler to take a bump on the huge planks of wood infested with six-inch nails at ringside loses.[65]
Nail Hell Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Nail Hell Deathmatch is a match where some boards with nails were hung on the ring ropes all the way across, and onto opposing sides of the ring there was a board, on one side there was nails and on the other side was barbed wire. Only one match like this was done, in December 1994 by IWA Japan.[65]
Street Fight [ edit ]
A Street Fight is a type of hardcore match with no disqualifications, in which falls count anywhere, and weapons are legal. The main difference between a hardcore match and a street fight is that while wrestlers wear tights in hardcore matches, wrestlers (particularly in modern times) almost always wear their own street clothes in street fights, and weapons typically used in street fights are items typically found on city streets, such as trash cans, road signs, dumpsters and sometimes vehicles, among other items. Sometimes street fights have the name of the host arena’s city in the name, such as “Chicago Street Fight” or “New York Street Fight”.

Miracle on 34th Street Fight [ edit ]
A Miracle on a 34th Street Fight is a Christmas-themed variant of a Street Fight, named after the movie Miracle on 34th Street, involving Christmas-themed weapons including fire extinguishers, pumpkin pies, presents, Christmas trees, Christmas wreaths, candy cane themed kendo sticks, bowling balls, and teddy bears, plus common wrestling weapons such as tables and chairs.

Trick or Street Fight [ edit ]
A Trick or Street Fight is a Halloween-themed variant of a Street Fight, named after the Halloween tradition “trick or treating”, involving Halloween-themed weapons including pumpkins, buckets of candy, bowls full of water and apples, skeletons, witches’ brooms, gravestones, candy corn themed kendo sticks, plus common wrestling weapons such as tables and chairs.

Taipei Deathmatch [ edit ]
In a Taipei deathmatch the wrestlers’ fists are taped and dipped into glue and in broken and crushed glass, allowing shards to stick to their fists. Win by pinfall, submission or escape.[41][83]
Thumbtack Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Thumbtack Deathmatch is a match where one or more trays containing thousands (usually 10,000) of thumbtacks is/are made available and usually placed in either the center or apron of the ring. The most well known version of this match was at the IWA Kawasaki Dream King of the Deathmatch, where Terry Gordy faced Cactus Jack in August 1995.[65] Variants of the thumbtack deathmatch staged by TNA Impact Wrestling have been done where the objective is modified to simply slam an opponent into the pile of thumbtacks on the mat. A variation of this match is a cross between a Ladder Match and 10,000 Thumbtacks Match called a Thumbtacks Ladder Match in which a ladder is placed in the ring with a reward at the top. Thumbtacks are also spread out across the ring. A variant of the 10,000 thumbtacks deathmatch is the East Coast Thumbtack, this match has 177,000 thumbtacks placed in the ring. The first match was introduced between Ian Rotten and The Messiah.[84]
Time Bomb Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Time Bomb Deathmatch is a type of deathmatch where explosives or fireworks set up around the ring are set off after an allotted time. This match originated in Japan and was done various times in the 1990s. Mick Foley and Terry Funk participated in a “Barbed Wire Rope, Exploding Barbed Wire Boards and Exploding Ring Time Bomb Deathmatch” as the final match of the 1995 Kawasaki Dream King of the Deathmatch tournament, where there were multiple plywood boards with barbed wire and explosives attached to them strewn around the ring.[65]
Time Bomb Exploding Cage Deathmatch [ edit ]
A Time Bomb Exploding Cage Deathmatch is a mixture of a Steel Cage match and a Time Bomb Deathmatch, where every square foot of a steel cage is wrapped in barbed wire and explosives set up around the ring go off after a set time, and five minutes before the explosion a loud siren is activated. The match, unlike a traditional steel cage match is a one-fall match and victory cannot be achieved via escaping the cage, which, if attempted would be very painful and difficult. This match also originated in Japan in the early 1990s.[65]
Unlucky 13 Deathmatch [ edit ]
An Unlucky 13 Deathmatch is a match was invented by Ian Rotten. In order to win the match, a wrestler must staple seven out of thirteen one dollar bills to their opponent’s mouth.

Iron Man/Woman match [ edit ]
An Iron Man (or Iron Woman for female matches) match is a multiple-fall match with a set time limit (usually 30 or 60 minutes). The match is won by the wrestler who wins the most falls within the time limit by either pinfall, submission, disqualification, or countout. If there is ever a tie, the match goes to sudden death overtime in which the wrestler who scores one fall on their opponent will immediately be declared the winner. An example of an Iron Man Match is Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules (2018) for the Intercontinental Championship. Other examples are Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar on an episode of SmackDown! in 2003 for the WWE Championship, and Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels at WWE Wrestlemania XII for the WWE Championship. The first Iron Woman match was between Bayley and Sasha Banks at NXT TakeOver: Respect in 2015.

Anything Goes Iron Man match [ edit ]
An Anything Goes Iron Man match is the hardcore variation of an Iron Man match: there are no disqualifications, no countouts and falls count anywhere. John Cena faced Randy Orton in an Anything Goes Iron Man match at Bragging Rights 2009.

Thunder Queen battle [ edit ]
The Thunder Queen battle is a hybrid tag team/iron woman match was used in All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling where the two teams of four members wrestle each other. The match starts off with individual members will have a five-minute singles Iron Woman match (20 minutes total each), followed by a 40-minute tag team Iron Woman match. The team with the highest total number of points within the time limit wins.

Ultimate Submission match [ edit ]
An Ultimate Submission match is a variation of an Iron Man match where the only way to score a fall within the allotted time limit is to make your opponent submit. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle had an Ultimate Submission match at Backlash 2001 for 30 minutes plus one minute and 33 seconds of tie-breaking overtime.

Location-based variations [ edit ]
Though most matches take place in and around the ring, some are designed specifically for more exotic locales. The majority of these matches take on the name of their setting, often appending “brawl” to the end, and all of them are hardcore by definition. The following is a list of locale-based variations that supplant or replace the standard rules. The following is a list of locale-based variations that supplant or replace the standard rules.

Bar Room Brawl [ edit ]
A Bar Room Brawl is a multi-competitor no disqualification match held in a bar. During the match wrestlers are encouraged to drink while fighting, and the “last man standing” is declared winner. Wrestlers can be eliminated from the match both by the standard pinfall, submission, or by simply becoming too (kayfabe) drunk to continue the match. An known example of this match is the APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl at Vengeance 2003 which Bradshaw won after knocking down Brother Love. Another example, a Bar Fight was done in 2020, with Jeff Hardy facing off against Sheamus.[85]
Boiler Room Brawl [ edit ]
A Boiler Room Brawl or Boiler Room match starts in a boiler room, with the winner being the first wrestler to successfully get out. This match is a no-disqualification, no-falls, no-countout match, so anything goes, so long as someone escapes first. The rather hazardous environment of this match featured some of the arena’s internal infrastructure, such as all sorts of large, exposed metal piping with large bolts, concrete flooring and solid electrical equipment everywhere, among other features. Mick Foley participated in all of the WWF-run Boiler Room Brawls under his persona Mankind, because this persona dwelled in boiler rooms, hence this being Mankind’s signature match. The first Boiler Room Brawl happened at SummerSlam 1996 with Mankind vs. The Undertaker, where in addition to escaping the boiler room the combatant had to make his way to the ring and grab Paul Bearer’s urn; but when the next Boiler Room Brawl was contested at Backlash 1999 with Mankind against The Big Show, the objective was simplified to just escaping the boiler room first.[86] World Championship Wrestling used a match with similar rules, naming their match and its location the Block.[87]
Body of Water match [ edit ]
A Body of Water match is a match where the sole objective is to get your opponent into the waters of a body of water, which is often named, for example, a Gulf of Mexico match requires a wrestler to put their opponent into The Gulf of Mexico. This match was only done once, where CM Punk faced Chavo Guerrero during an ECW show in Corpus Christi, Texas (which is located right on the Gulf of Mexico) in February 2008.[88]
Dungeon match [ edit ]
An Dungeon match is a match that took place in the legendary Hart Family Dungeon in Calgary, where Owen Hart challenged Ken Shamrock to come to the Dungeon (referred to as Hart’s “basement”) for a fight.

Empty Arena match [ edit ]
An empty arena match is a hardcore (no disqualification, falls count anywhere) “anything goes” match between two or more wrestlers that takes place in an arena or stadium that although is fully set up for a wrestling event, is devoid of fans. The only people present are the competitors, referee, commentators, and cameramen. The match is broadcast, or videotaped and played later. An example of this is the WWF championship match between The Rock and Mankind that took place in Tucson, Arizona, at the Tucson Convention Center, which aired as part of a special Halftime Heat edition of Sunday Night Heat aired against the Super Bowl halftime show of Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999. One of the earliest and best known empty arena matches occurred in 1981 in Memphis, Tennessee, at the Mid-South Coliseum between Jerry Lawler and Terry Funk.[89]
A lack of audience that is a legitimate aspect of the production and not a kayfabe stipulation of the match (i.e. the match is conducted normally, except a live audience is not present) is not necessarily considered an empty arena match. For example, audiences were barred from attending televised AEW, and later WWE, shows in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.[90]
Parking Lot Brawl [ edit ]
A Parking Lot Brawl is a Falls Count Anywhere match that is usually fought in an interior location or in an outside parking lot around a tightly parked circle of cars. The first wrestler to score a pinfall, submission, or knockout in a Parking Lot Brawl is the winner. Both wrestlers are allowed to use everything around them as weapons, including the cars. The first Parking Lot Brawl was between Jerry Lawler and Eddie Gilbert in Memphis, Tennessee in 1988, which was fought all over the arena and its outside parking lot. More well known examples of a Parking Lot Brawl both involved John Cena, where he faced Eddie Guerrero in 2003 and JBL in 2008. A renamed Parking Lot Brawl, an Iron Circle match was a match where Ken Shamrock fought Steve Blackman at WWF Fully Loaded 1999.[91]
Hollywood Backlot Brawl [ edit ]
A Hollywood Backlot Brawl was a no-disqualification match that started in a Hollywood studio backlot, and it was fought between Goldust and Roddy Piper. This match also involved the two performers actually driving cars for a long period of time, and then ended with the two arriving in the Honda Center in Anaheim 30 miles away to finish their match in the ring.[92]
Tooth and Nail match [ edit ]
A Tooth and Nail match is a Falls Count Anywhere-stipulation match that is fought in and around a dental office, and any weapon is legal. This is Britt Baker’s speciality match, based on her role as a dentist in both kayfabe and off-screen reality, and the objective of this match is to achieve a pinfall, submission or countout.[93]
Lumberjack match [ edit ]
In keeping with the theme, the wrestlers outside the ring may wear flannel shirts during lumberjack matches; an example of this is the 1–2–3 Kid in 1995

A lumberjack match is a standard match with the exception that the ring is surrounded by a group of wrestlers not directly involved in it.[94] These wrestlers, known collectively as lumberjacks (female wrestlers serving in this manner are sometimes called lumberjills; lumberjack matches between female wrestlers are called lumberjill matches, a play on the famous Nursery Rhyme, “Jack and Jill”), are there to prevent the wrestlers in the match from getting out of the ring.[94] The groups of lumberjacks are typically split up into groups of faces and heels who occupy opposing sides around the ring. Usually, the “opposing” lumberjacks (that is, face lumberjacks if the wrestler is a heel, and vice versa) swarm the wrestlers if they leave the ring and force them back in it. Occasional interference from the lumberjacks is common, as is an all-out brawl on the outside involving most of the lumberjacks. Early lumberjack matches even featured the lumberjacks wearing stereotypical lumberjack clothing in keeping with the lumberjack theme, though this is generally no longer done. A common theme is for the lumberjacks to consist entirely of heel wrestlers to stack the odds against the face competitor. The Lumberjill Snowbunny match is another variation of the Lumberjill match with female lumberjacks, held in a pit of snow.

Canadian Lumberjack match [ edit ]
A “Canadian” lumberjack match is a variation of a lumberjack match in which the lumberjacks are equipped with leather straps. TNA’s “fan’s revenge” lumberjack match did their own version of a Canadian lumberjack match where fans equipped with straps act as lumberjacks and were encouraged to whip wrestlers.[95]
Extreme Lumberjack match [ edit ]
The Extreme Lumberjack match is a lumberjack match competed under hardcore rules, where there are no disqualifications, no countouts, and falls count anywhere.[96]
Multi-competitor-based variations [ edit ]
On some occasions, a match may be held between more than two individual wrestlers or teams. Multi-competitor matches are often broken down to eliminations and non-eliminations.

Basic non-elimination matches [ edit ]
Non-elimination matches with three competitors [ edit ]
The most common example of a non-elimination match is the three-way match (also known as a Triple Threat Match in WWE, Triangle Match in WCW, Three-Way Dance in ECW), in which three wrestlers compete under standard rules with the first competitor to achieve a pinfall or submission being declared the winner. Triple Threat matches are fought under no-disqualification and no-countout stipulations. Triangle matches are often contested like a tag match where only two can be in the match at one time while the third waits on the ring apron and the only elimination factor is if a competitor is disqualified.

Non-elimination matches with four or more competitors [ edit ]
In many promotions, there are typically no distinctions between the two terms. Non-elimination variations are the four-way match (known as a Fatal Four-Way in WWE, Four Corners in WCW), the five-way match (known as a Fatal Five-Way in WWE) or the six-way match (known as the Six-Pack Challenge in WWE), involving four, five, or six wrestlers, respectively. [97] American independent promotion USA Xtreme Wrestling hosted a match involving 8–12 competitors known as the 8 Ball Challenge. These types of matches can be used in certain situations to take a title off a wrestler without weakening him in the process.

On some occasions, multi-competitor matches are contested under similar rules as a tag team match. Two competitors start the match in the ring while the other wrestler(s) wait outside the ring for a tag from another wrestler, often achieved by touching an unsuspecting competitor in the ring. Variations of this include a Four Corners Survival or Six-Man Mayhem match in Ring of Honor. Competitors are permitted to leave their position and attack wrestlers outside of the ring, such as when one or both wrestlers have been thrown over the top rope.

Basic elimination matches [ edit ]
Matches involving a larger number of competitors are typically elimination matches. These matches may begin with all of the competitors in the ring at the same time. The standard match rules apply as wrestlers may leave the position and attack other wrestlers outside the ring with a twist that the wrestler be pinned or forced to submit is eliminated from the match.

Elimination matches with three competitors [ edit ]
The most common example of an elimination match is the Three-Way Dance, where the first fall would eliminate one wrestler, reducing the match to a standard one-fall singles match. The Three-Way Dance was a specialty of Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Elimination matches with four or more competitors [ edit ]
A Four-Way Dance is similar except it involves four wrestlers in Extreme Championship Wrestling and some promotions use a tag format for the match instead of having all the wrestlers in the ring at the same time. Elimination variations are the four-way match (known as a Fatal Four-Way in WWE), the five-way match (known as a Fatal Five-Way in WWE) or the six-way match (known as the Six-Pack Challenge in WWE), involving four, five, or six wrestlers inside the ring, respectively.

The Deadly Draw match is a TNA variation where four competitors wrestle in this match. The rules are very complex which it starts out as a one-on-one match. For five minutes, the two participants try and fight each other. After five minutes pass, the third competitor enters the ring. Another five more minutes pass then the final competitor enters the ring. Any wrestler who gets pinned or submitted or any wrestler not involved in the decision who has entered is also eliminated. The last man standing wins.

Beat the Clock challenge [ edit ]
A Beat the Clock challenge is a multi-competitor match in which wrestlers must defeat their opponent in a singles match before the clock runs out. Additionally, the next wrestler must beat the winner’s set time by defeating their opponent to advance, otherwise that wrestler is eliminated. In doing so, the victorious wrestler usually gets some type of reward in return, such as inclusion in a title match, for instance. In a variation on the November 20, 2013 episode of NXT, two wrestlers completed a match, with the match duration being used as the marker for two other wrestlers to complete their match.

Championship Scramble [ edit ]
WWE features a match called the Championship Scramble in which none of the wrestlers are eliminated. Two wrestlers start the match and every five minutes another wrestler enters until all five participants are present. After the last wrestler enters, there is a predetermined time limit. Each time a wrestler scores a pinfall or submission, he becomes the interim champion. Such reigns are not recorded as title reigns. The winner is the wrestler who scores the last pinfall or submission before the time limit expires. The Unforgiven pay-per view of 2008 is arguably the most prominent showcase of this match type, as all three world titles were contested under a Championship Scramble match.

Elimination Chase [ edit ]
The Elimination Chase, first used in WWE’s version of ECW brand in 2007, is a series of multi-competitor, one fall matches, with the loser of the fall being eliminated from future matches until one competitor remains.[98]
Special Guest Referee [ edit ]
The Special Guest Referee is any match in which the usual referee is replaced with a “guest” filling in as the official. Celebrities (such as Muhammad Ali in the main event of WrestleMania I), managers and other wrestlers can “guest” as the special referee. In some cases, a special referee is put into a match which is already a different match type or stipulation. The special referee will often be biased towards or against one of the competitors or will be assigned as the Special Referee to ensure the match is called down the line. Special Outside Referee also known as Special Enforcer or Special Guest Enforcer is same as the Special Referee but the guest referee stays on the outside enforcing what the normal referee doesn’t see. These guests are sometimes known as “enforcers”, the most famous of which was Mike Tyson, who served as the Special Guest Enforcer for the WWF title match between Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV, and Chuck Norris who served as Special Guest Enforcer at Survivor Series 1994 in a match between The Undertaker and Yokozuna. Another example of this is Triple H vs The Undertaker in a Hell in a cell match at WrestleMania 28 with Shawn Michaels being the Special Guest Referee.

Non-wrestling matches [ edit ]
Occasionally, a match would take place under the rules of a different type of contest. Like professional wrestling matches, the matches would be worked, with the participants not being in the perceived danger and the winner being predetermined.

Arm Wrestling match [ edit ]
An arm wrestling match, in the context of professional wrestling, is a basic arm wrestling contest. It can be contested between two females, two males or between one male and one female. Often the male in the latter will be a manager going against the wrestler of a competitor.[99]
Boxing match [ edit ]
The professional wrestling version of a boxing match has standard boxing rules applied to it. Wrestlers wear boxing gloves and the match is contested in rounds with fouls given out, though the matches are generally worked and end with one wrestler cheating and using wrestling maneuvers.[100]
Mixed Martial Arts match [ edit ]
The professional wrestling version of a mixed martial arts (MMA) match under standard MMA. As in MMA, pinfalls are not a valid method of victory. Matches can typically only be won by knockout, submission, disqualification, forfeit or by going to a referee’s decision.

Sumo match [ edit ]
For a sumo match, the ropes are removed from the ring and standard sumo rules apply. The first person to step outside o

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