Pro Wrestling Match Types

Wrestling Match Types
<em>Wrestling Match Types &#8211; Buried Alive</em>

Pro Wrestling Match Types – Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called “concept” or “gimmick matches” in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some of them occur relatively frequently while others are developed so as to advance an angle and such match types are used rarely. Because of professional wrestling’s long history over decades, many things have been recycled (many match types often being variations of previous match types). Here is a list of the most famous and still used match types.

2 out of 3 falls match
A 2 out of 3 falls match is extending the one-fall concept to a series of falls, a point can be awarded by pinfall, submission, disqualification, or countout. This variation is mostly used in singles or tag team matches.

Ambulance match
An Ambulance match is a match where the only way to win is for one wrestler to force their opponent into the back of an ambulance and close the door. The loser is then (in kayfabe) taken to the hospital. The most recent ambulance match featured Drew McIntyre against Randy Orton at Clash of Champions on September 27, 2020.

Battle royal
The battle royal is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until only one is left. Typical battle royals begin with 15, 20, or so 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 (this is sometimes referred to as the “Shawn Michaels rule”, due to the 1995 Royal Rumble, in which he was thrown over the top rope, hung on to the top rope and only had one foot land on the floor).

Beat the Clock challenge match
A Beat the Clock challenge match is a match in which wrestlers must defeat their opponent before the clock runs out. 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.

Blindfold match
In a Blindfold match, the two participants must wear a blindfold over their eyes for the entire duration of the match.

Body Bag match
A Body Bag match is a match where the only way to win is for one wrestler to force their opponent into a body bag and close the body bag.

Buried Alive match
A Buried Alive match is a No Holds Barred match 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 soil to the referee’s discretion. Equipment ranging from shovels and wheelbarrows to bulldozers are often made available to completely bury the opponent. All buried alive matches thus far have had The Undertaker as a competitor.

A version of the match known as a “Boneyard match” was filmed for WrestleMania 36, between The Undertaker and AJ Styles. The match was presented as a cinematic segment, taking place in a cemetery-like setting near an abandoned warehouse, rather than in a traditional ring.

Casket match
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 in it. The casket match began its life as a one-off coffin match in the 1970s fought between Dusty Rhodes and Ivan Koloff. The coffin match was revived by The Undertaker and first appeared on television at the Survivor Series as the coffin match against Kamala. Prior to that, on July 14, 1991, the Ultimate Warrior defeated the Undertaker in a casket match in St. Louis, Missouri at Busch Stadium. 17 casket matches have taken place, 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.

Dumpster match
A dumpster match is a hardcore 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.

Elimination Chamber match
The Elimination Chamber (also called No Escape in Germany because of WWE avoiding 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. An Extreme Elimination Chamber took place at the 2006 December to Dismember pay-per-view, each waiting wrestler was given a weapon. Since 2010, WWE has held a pay-per-view of the same name every February, with this match type as one of its marquee matches. During the 2018 edition of this pay-per-view, 8 of WWE’s female wrestlers competed in the first Elimination Chamber match with only female competitors.

Falls Count Anywhere match
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. 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). As the match may take place in various parts of the arena, 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.

Fight Pit match
A variation of a cage match where the ring is surrounded by a steel cell 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 is 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).

First Blood match
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.

Flag match
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. 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.

An Anthem match is a variant 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.

Gauntlet match
A Gauntlet match, also referred to as a Turmoil match, is a quick series of one-fall one-on-one matches. Two wrestlers begin the match and are replaced whenever one is eliminated (by pinfall or submission). After a predetermined number of wrestlers have competed in the match, the last person standing is named the winner. A Gauntlet match may also be played out in multiple “parts” as part of a storyline (in which a face wrestler must face a series of a heel wrestler’s underlings before facing the heel himself, for instance) – this was common in World Championship Wrestling in the early 1990s. A participant involved in a Gauntlet match may be said to be “running the gauntlet” (in most cases this designation being reserved for those who are involved for most of the match).

It could also be a one-on-three/four handicap match. Unlike tag matches, the three/four man team will challenge the person handicapped individually until he is knocked out, at which time the match is over.

As a tag team match, the Gauntlet match sees two tag teams begin the match and are replaced whenever one team is eliminated. This version is sometimes referred to as “Tag team turmoil match”.

The most famous variation of the Gauntlet match is WWE’s Royal Rumble, a match that combines the concepts of a battle royal and the gauntlet match. In the match, a number of wrestlers, whom enter at different timed intervals, aim to eliminate their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor. The winner of the match is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated.

Hair vs. Hair match
In matches in which hair is on the line, the heel wrestler generally loses the match, as it is designed to humiliate them. Among notable wrestlers who have lost such matches, Gorgeous George, Adrian Adonis, Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Molly Holly, Vince McMahon, and CM Punk were all heels when on the losing end of hair vs. hair matches.

While most wrestlers (especially female wrestlers) end up growing their hair back out, in some cases the wrestler may tend to keep a shaved head as part of their look. For instance, Angle’s kayfabe explanation was that he could not regrow it despite using Rogaine, hair tonic, and even fertilizer. In reality, he was already going bald naturally, with many jokes about his receding hair line having been made on TV long before his head was shaved; his wife, Karen, had wanted Angle to shave his head. Angle would briefly regrow it for his role in the movie Warrior before shaving it again. Some, such as Molly Holly and CM Punk, wore wigs or masks to hide their head until enough hair had grown back in for them to forego wearing a wig or mask.

Handicap match
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, three against two etc. Normally the babyfaces are outnumbered with the heels having more members on their team to provide an unfair advantage. 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 matches, all competitors are in the ring at the same time. 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 match
A standard hardcore match, also known as a Devil’s Playground match is a no-disqualification, no-countout, falls count anywhere, one-fall match where the only rule (unless specifically noted) is to pin the opponent for a 3-count. Otherwise, anything goes: any weapon can be used, any amount of wrestlers who are not booked in the match can be involved 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.

Hell in a Cell match
A specific kind of enclosure match run by WWE inside a 4-sided cuboid 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, 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 ceiling of the cage). The match has a no disqualification “anything goes” stipulation, and can only be won via pinfall or submission inside the ring. Anything not nailed to the floor may be used as a weapon, including the Cell’s structure. This type of match outside of the WWE is considered a cage match since most promotions do not consider escaping from the ring as a victory.

Because of the “anything goes” rule, this match developed an infamous reputation in its early years. This match only takes place on pay-per-view shows (with the exception of 2 taking place on Raw in 1998 and a dark match on Raw in 2011), and 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 more than 40 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 match was between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels in 1997. The Hell in a Cell (2019) PPV ended in controversy when Seth Rollins faced Bray Wyatt. Seth beat up Bray and when he hit Bray with a sledgehammer with Bray under a ladder the referee had no choice but to end the match disregarding the fact that the only way to win is by pinfall or submission.

Inferno match
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 unfortunate 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. In fact, there have only been five to this date in the WWE, all of which have involved Kane.

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. The first WWF Inferno Match was between Kane and The Undertaker at the 1998 Unforgiven pay-per-view, 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.

A 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 Erik Rowan of The Wyatt Family. WCW also attempted an Inferno match, known as the Human Torch match, at The Great American Bash in 2000 between Sting and Vampiro.

Iron Man match
An iron man (or iron woman) 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 limit, by either pinfall, submission, disqualification, or countout.

Ladder match
A ladder match is a match in which a specific object (usually a title belt or a contract) is placed above the ring—out of the reach of the competitors—with the winner being the first person to climb a ladder and retrieve it. This is often used in WWE with their Money in the Bank matches.[104] The ladder may be used as a weapon.

Last Chance match
A last chance match, also called a “do or die” match, is a championship match in which the challenger, if he does not win the title, is banned from challenging for it again as long as that reigning champion holds it. Rarely, the loser may even be barred from challenging for that title for as long as they remain employed at the company. (Examples of this are Slammiversary XI, when Sting was defeated by defending champion Bully Ray in a no holds barred variant of this match and was barred from challenging for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship again no matter who held it and the debut episode of NWA Power, where Tim Storm was barred from challenging for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship ever again as a result of losing to Nick Aldis.) At NXT TakeOver: In Your House, when Velveteen Dream lost to Adam Cole for the NXT Championship, Velveteen was barred for challenging Adam Cole for the NXT championship.

Last Man Standing match
A Last Man Standing match (or Last Woman Standing) is a hardcore-style match in which 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.

Last Ride match
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.

Lumberjack match
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. These wrestlers, known collectively as lumberjacks (female wrestlers serving in this manner are sometimes called lumberjills, and 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. 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 not uncommon, nor 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.

Variations of this match include the “Canadian” lumberjack match, in which the lumberjacks are equipped with leather straps, the “extreme” lumberjack match, competed under extreme rules, and TNA’s “fan’s revenge” lumberjack match, during which fans equipped with straps act as lumberjacks and are encouraged to whip wrestlers.

No Countout match
A No Countout match is a regular match in which both competitors can stay outside of the ring without being counted out.

No Disqualification match
A No Disqualification match, also known as a no holds barred match, 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. 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.

Another variant of a no disqualification match is a non-sanctioned match or unsanctioned match, also called a lights out match. In this variation, there are no rules (with the exception of the pinfall or submission)

Parking Lot Brawl
Two types of matches take place in parking lots, the parking lot brawl and the iron circle match. They are essentially the same thing, two wrestlers fighting in a parking lot, the major difference being the iron circle match takes place in the middle of a multitude of cars parked in a circle with their headlights on, while the parking lot brawl tends to be in a sparser location. Both wrestlers are allowed to use everything around them as weapons, including the cars. First one to pinfall or submission is the winner.

Object on a Pole match
The Object on a Pole match, whose name is usually derived from the object being hung, i.e. “Brass knuckles on a Pole”, “Steel chair on a Pole”, “Singapore cane on a Pole”, “Paddle on a Pole”, “Necklace on a Pole”, “Contract on a pole”, “Michael Shechter on a Pole”, “Mistletoe on a Pole” or “Judy Bagwell on a Pole”, is the spiritual forebear of the ladder match. In this case, an object is placed on a pole that extends from one of the four turnbuckles on the ring with the wrestlers battling to reach it first.[119] Unlike the ladder match, however, reaching the object doesn’t usually end the match; it simply allows that wrestler to use it as a weapon.[120] This is not a no-disqualification match; the weapon on the pole is merely an exception to the disqualification rule. However, this is sometimes a no-disqualification match in which any weapon, plus the one on the pole, can be used. This match is referred to by many wrestling critics as a “Russo Special”, due to the propensity of WCW booker Vince Russo’s use of Pole Matches during his tenure at the company.

Multiple variations of the “Pole match” exist. In some cases the match is closer to the ladder match, in that reaching the object does end the match. In others there will be objects above all of the turnbuckles. Further still, there can be a mixture of the two, with an object placed at (though not above) each turnbuckle, one to end the match, the rest to be used as weapons. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling used a “Pole match” as a setup to another match, placing objects at four of their six turnbuckles with the promise that the first wrestler to reach each object would be allowed to use them weeks later at an already scheduled cage match. In a “Feast or Fired” match each case contains a contract to fight for a TNA World Heavyweight Championship, TNA Tag Team Championship or TNA X-Division Championship, with the final case contains a pink slip, mean the holder of that case would be fired immediately, but if the person holding the X-Division title shot briefcase went on to win that title, it cannot be cashed in right away for the World Heavyweight Championship (Option C).

Singles match
The singles match is the most basic of all professional wrestling matches, which involves only two competitors competing for one fall. Victory is obtained by pinfall, submission, knockout, countout or disqualification.

Steel cage match
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 Lon Chaney and Otto Ludwig, and Joe Dillman vs. Charles Sinkey.[14] These matches took place in a ring surrounded by chicken wire, in order to keep the athletes inside, and prevent any potential interference.[15] They have evolved a great deal over time, changing from chicken wire[16] 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, by submission, though these are less common stipulations in the modern era, an even less likely stipulation is that weapons can be thrown into the ring by the wrestlers’ managers.

In WWE in the mid-2000’s, a number of steel cage matches involving barbed wire wrapped around the top of the cage were done.

It is possible to have one wrestler attempting to escape over the top of the cage wall while another tries to escape through the cage door. 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.

Street Fight
A street fight is a type of hardcore match without 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) wear their own street clothes in street fights. 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”.

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.

Submission match
A submission match is typically a match in which pinfalls, count-outs and disqualifications are not legal and the match could only end by making an opponent tap out to a submission hold. A very famous variation of this match is an “I quit” match in which a wrestler has to beat their opponent and force them to say “I quit”.

Tables match
A Tables match is a match in which, to win, one’s opponent must somehow be driven through a table with an offensive move by their opponent. It can only be won with an offensive maneuver.

Tables matches can be contested with tag teams, under both elimination and one fall rules. The first tables match in the WWE was a tag-team Tables match with The Hardy Boyz versus The Dudley Boyz (the latter were known for their pioneering use of tables in professional wrestling) at the 2000 Royal Rumble. The object of this match was to drive all team members through a table with an offensive move, but after the high level of violence and brutality of this particular match, the objective of every subsequent Tables match was toned town to have just one opponent driven through a table with an offensive move. It is common for tables matches to also include a “no-disqualification” clause, which turns them into hardcore matches by nature (although this variation may also be alternately known as a Hardcore Tables Match). In some tag matches, a person can save his teammate by breaking the table with his own body. Apparently this does not count against the team. A more “extreme” version, the Flaming Table match requires the table to be set aflame before an opponent is put through it. Another variation is the two out of three tables match. There is also another type called the three table showdown, which can only be won when one wrestler puts his opponent through three tables, but it does not have to be at the same time.

Tag team turmoil
Tag team turmoil is another version of an elimination tag team match. The match has a team in each of the four corners to start the match, but as each team is eliminated another team takes its place, similar to a gauntlet match. Another variation of tag team turmoil took place at SummerSlam in 1999, Night of Champions in 2010, Night of Champions Kickoff Show in 2013, and Elimination Chamber in 2017. Two teams start, when one is eliminated a new team comes to the ring until all teams have competed, the remaining team is the winner. This was used on the May 31, 2011 episode of NXT, with a team consisting of a WWE pro and an NXT rookie. The winning team earned three redemption points for the rookie in this version. This was also used on the May 8, 2017 episode of Raw, where the winning team earned a number one contender’s spot for Matt and Jeff Hardy’s WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.

Texas Deathmatch
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.

TLC match
A tables, ladders and chairs match, often abbreviated as TLC match, is an extension of a ladder match with chairs and tables also being present as legal weapons. This match was introduced because each of the 3 teams specialized in one of these weapons: Edge and Christian were known for their frequent use of steel folding chairs and the tandem “con-chair-to” move; the Dudley Boyz were known for their pioneering, hard-hitting use of slamming their opponents through wooden event tables; and the Hardy Boyz were known for their high-flying acrobatics off of twin-step ladders. There had been a similar type of match at Wrestlemania 16 called the “Triangle Ladder Match” which also involved tables and chairs. But the first ever official TLC match took place between Edge and Christian, The Dudley Boyz and the Hardy Boyz at the WWF event Summerslam 2000; and another at Wrestlemania X-Seven. Due to the dangerous, violent, frenetic, destructive and physically demanding nature of these matches every subsequent TLC match since the Wrestlemania X-Seven match was toned down to reduce the very high demands and risks this type of match poses. Since 2009, WWE has held a pay-per-view in December named TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, which features this match as its marquee matches. The match has two variations: one is competed as a ladder match, which the person/people must retrieve an object suspended above the ring, and the other is a traditional style match won by pinfall or submission. In TNA’s “Full Metal Mayhem” variation, steel chains are also permitted along with tables, ladders, and chairs. One particular spectacle that is generated from these matches is a war zone-like scene of mass destruction where destroyed tables, ladders, chairs and barely mobile wrestlers lay strewn in and around the wring. In WWE, Edge has competed in the most TLC matches (7) including the first three, and has often used this match to gain an advantage in a storyline, with some referring to it as his specialty match.

Tornado tag team match

Originally known as the Texas Tornado match. In this match, all wrestlers involved are allowed to be in the ring at the same time, and thus all wrestlers are vulnerable to having a fall scored against them. Whether or not it is truly a “tag team match” is debatable, as it involves no tagging, but it is contested between tag teams. The first match of this kind was held on October 2, 1937, in Houston between Milo Steinborn and Whiskers Savage against Tiger Daula and Fazul Mohammed. It was the brainchild of promoter Morris Sigel.

Winner Takes All match

A Winner Takes All match is a match in which both wrestlers (or teams if a tag team match) are champions going into the match, and the winner receives the championship of the loser, thus “taking all”. This differs from a championship unification match, where one championship is absorbed into the other and retired/deactivated. In a Winner Take All scenario, both titles are still active and defended as separate entities.

Source: Wikipedia.

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