The
Rasslin' Ring Glossary of Gimmick Matches
By Russ Ray
2-of-3
Falls Match: A match that is not decided after one fall, but
after one wrestler or team can win two falls out of three.
Arkansas
Hog Pen Match (WWF): A match where the winner is the first
one who can throw his opponent into a hog pen located on a
set near the ring. The hog pen is usually complete with hogs
and mud and wooden fencing.
Barbed
Wire Match: A match where the ring ropes have been replaced
with barbed wire. Barbed wire is sometimes wrapped around
the ring posts as well.
Battlebowl
(WCW): A competition where 8 tag teams face each other in
a preliminary round of matches. The men who win face each
other in a battle royal.
See also:
Battle Royal
Battle
Royal: A match where a certain number of wrestlers (10, 16,
20, 25, etc.) begin the match at the same time. Wrestlers
are eliminated when they are thrown out of the ring and to
the floor, although some referees have been known to allow
outside parties to drag wrestlers out of the ring and count
it as elimination. The last man left in the ring is the winner.
Also called:
World War 3 (WCW), where the rules are that it takes place
with 60 men in three rings and 20 men to a ring. As soon as
five men are left in one ring, they move to another ring.
See also:
Battlebowl (WCW), Royal Rumble (WWF)
Blindfold
Match: A match where the participants have been blindfolded
or hooded to prevent them from seeing anything. Wrestlers
usually have to depend on the fans to tell them where their
opponents are in the ring.
Boiler
Room Brawl (WWF): A match where the participants fight in
a boiler room with whatever available weapons are at hand.
The original rules involved the winner being the one who got
to the ring from the boiler room first, however it has recently
been changed so that the winner just has to get out of the
boiler room first.
"Buried
Alive" Match (WWF): A match where the winner is the one who
can throw his opponent into a grave (located on a set near
the ring) and cover him with an available pile of dirt.
Cage Match:
A match where the ring is surrounded by a cage made of steel
bars or chain link fencing. Different companies have different
rules: WCW generally has the winner win by pinfall or submission
inside the cage; WWF generally awards the match to the wrestler
who can escape the cage first.
Also called:
Steel Cage Match
Casket
Match (WWF): A match where the winner is the one who can put
his opponent into a funeral casket and close the lid.
Dog Collar
Match: A match where the participants must wear dog collars
that are attached to each other by a chain.
Evening
Gown Match: A match between women where the participants must
wrestle in evening gowns and the winner is the first to strip
her opponent down to her undergarments.
Also called:
Tuxedo Match, for men
Falls-Count-Anywhere
Match: A match where a fall can count anywhere in or out of
the ring, including ringside, the audience or backstage. Some
rules require that the pinfall must occur in the building,
though the WWF's Hardcore Division has pushed that rule to
where a pinfall can occur outside or even across the street.
First
Blood Match: A match where the winner is the one who can draw
blood on his opponent first.
Four Corners
Match: A match involving six singles wrestlers or four tag
team wrestlers. Wrestlers tag in and out with any corner and
are eliminated one man or team at a time. The winner is the
wrestler who is the last remaining in the match. Some rules
also declare the winner after one fall.
Gauntlet
Match: A match where one wrestler has to face three, four
or five other wrestlers in succession with no rest between
falls. As soon as the wrestler by himself is counted for a
fall, he loses the match.
Greased
Pole Match: A match where a pole covered with grease is placed
in the corner on a ringpost and an object is put at the top
of it. The winner is the one who can overcome the grease and
get the object.
See also:
Weapon-on-a-Pole Match
Handicap
Match: A tag team match where there is an unequal balance
of wrestlers on one team. This can be 2-on-1, 3-on-1, 3-on-2
or whatever.
Hell in
a Cell (WWF): A match that takes place inside a cage of chain
link fencing that completely surrounds the ring and the ringside
area. The participants are usually locked inside the cell,
although the first two matches involved activity on top of
the cell also, which is about 15 feet from the floor.
See also:
War Games (WCW).
Inferno
Match (WWF): A match where a gas burner surrounds the ring
along the apron. The winner is the one who can set any part
of his opponent's body on fire.
"I
Quit" Match: A match where the winner is the one who can make
his opponent give up and say "I Quit".
Also called:
Submission Match
Ironman
Match: A match with a 30 minute, 45 minute or 60 minute time
limit. The winner is the one who can win the most falls within
the allotted amount of time.
King of
the Ring (WWF): An event staged around the WWF pay-per-view
where 8 (or in some years 4) participants face off in a one-night
single-elimination tournament to determine the annual King
of the Ring.
Ladder
Match: A match where an object of some value (a title belt,
a weapon, a bag of money) is suspended above the ring and
a ladder is placed outside the ring. The winner is the one
who can climb the ladder and retrieve the prize first. The
match is usually held under No-DQ rules and the ladder is
usually used as a weapon throughout the match.
Last Man
Standing Match: A match where the winner is the one who beats
his opponent so badly that he cannot answer a 10-count.
See also:
Texas Death Match
Lion's
Den Match (WWF): A match inside a tall UFC-style cage that
is smaller than the average wrestling ring and surrounded
by chain link fencing.
Lumberjack
Match: A match where the ring is surrounded by other wrestlers
(called "lumberjacks"). Any wrestler who ends up outside the
ring is attacked by the lumberjacks until he gets back in
the ring.
Mixed
Tag Team Match: A match involving a man and a woman on each
team. Most rules prevent the men from attacking the women
during the match. The match can also be staged with men or
women and midget wrestlers.
No Disqualification/No
Countout Match: A match where a countout or a disqualification
cannot end a match.
Also called:
No Holds Barred Rules
Royal
Rumble (WWF): A special type of battle royal where the 30
participants draw numbers before the match to determine the
order they enter. The participants who draw numbers 1 and
2 start the match. Every two minutes (some years 60 or 90
seconds), the next man enters until all 30 have entered the
match. All other battle royal rules apply and the last one
left in the ring is the winner. The past few years, the winner
of the Royal Rumble has gone on to get the shot at the WWF
Championship at Wrestlemania.
Scaffold
Match: A match where the wrestlers must fight above the ring
on a narrow scaffolding. The winner is the one who can throw
his opponent from the scaffolding.
Singles
Match: Any standard one-on-one match.
Special
Challenge Match: A match where the winner must perform some
sort of stipulation in order to win, such as body slamming
an opponent or performing their finishing move on their opponent.
Special
Stipulation Match: A match where the loser must perform some
sort of stipulation, such as unmasking, shaving his head,
retiring, leaving the promotion, etc.
Strap
Match: A match where the participants are connected by a leather
strap at the wrists. The winner is the one who can pull his
opponent into each of the four corners of the ring in succession,
however, some matches recently have allowed pinfalls or submissions
to decide the match as well.
Street
Fight: A match where there are no countouts or disqualifications
and the participants may bring any weapons they wish to use
to the ring with them.
Tag Team
Elimination Match: A match where opposing teams try to score
a fall on each of their opponents in the match. The winners
are the remaining team member or members when the entire opposing
team has been eliminated. The idea is that the with less people
on the other side, the easier it is to take advantage of the
disparity. This match is usually used at the WWF Survivor
Series, but it hasn't been used much in the past couple of
years.
Tag Team
Match: A match with two man teams in which members move in
and out of the ring by touching or "tagging" their teammate.
A tag team match with more than four men involved on even
teams is referred to by the number of men in the match, i.e.,
6-Man, 8-Man, 10-Man. Most tag matches of 6 men or more go
to one fall.
Texas
Death Match: A match where pinfalls count anywhere in the
building, and the winner is the one who can score a fall on
his opponent and return to the ring before a 10-count.
See also:
Last Man Standing Match
Texas
Tornado Match: A tag team match where it is legal for all
team members to be involved at the same time without having
to tag in or out. Most matches are No Countout/No Disqualification.
Thunderdome
Match: A steel cage match that features either an electrified
ceiling or electrified bars. An old version of the Thunderdome
match was to have teams of 5 attempting to handcuff the opposing
team to the cage bars. After the winners had handcuffed all
of their opponents, they would be given 5 minutes to attack
their helpless opponents.
Triangle
Match (WCW): A match with three opposing members or teams.
Some rules stop the match at one fall, which means that one
man has to get both opponents incapacitated in some way to
score the fall on one of them. Other rules make the match
a singles match on the remaining two participants after a
fall is scored on the third man. If tag teams are involved,
usually the teammates stay on the outside of the ring, and
it is limited to two men in the ring, while singles matches
have all three men at once.
Also called:
Three-Way Dance (ECW), Triple-Threat Match (WWF)
War Games
(WCW): Two adjoining rings are surrounded by a cage of chain
link fencing with an enclosed ceiling. Two teams of four face
each other. A fresh man enters the cage every 2 minutes until
all 8 men are in the cage. A coin toss takes place beforehand
to determine what team will have the man advantage, as the
teams will either be at even strength or in a handicap situation.
The team that gets their opponents to give up first wins.
The cage's ceiling is usually very low and it is hard for
the competitors to hit aerial moves and for the spectators
sometimes to see what is going on.
Weapon-on-a-Pole
Match: A match where a pole is placed in the corner on a ringpost
and a weapon is put at the top of it. The match doesn’t end
when the weapon is retrieved, but the first one to get the
weapon can use it.
See also:
Greased Pole Match
Wildcard
Match (WWF): A special type of match, usually involving tag
teams, where the participants are randomly drawn and placed
on teams. The one time this match was shown on pay-per-view,
it was with a Survivor Series elimination match. The match
usually ends with the heels stabbing their babyface teammates
in the back somehow.
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