WWE: Ranking the 10 Best Match Types of All Time
One of the best things about WWE is the variety. A single card can feature a cage match, a tag team match and a match where the loser has to retire.
They range from barbaric to theatrical, from featuring two opponents to 30.
In judging WWE's best types of matches, one has to consider how many classics it has produced and how good it is at its worst. Is there a true range of stories to be told within that format?
I've stayed away from matches that the WWE rarely puts on like Lucha De Apuesta matches (mask vs. mask, hair vs. hair, etc.) or matches that were only put on in different companies like War Games and the Ultimate X match.
Honorable Mention: Best 2-out-of-3 Falls
1 of 11Far more common in the Lucha Libre tradition, WWE has seen its share of incredible 2-out-of-3-Falls matches as well.
The nature of the match helps rev up the drama.
Wrestlers are desperate to gain the first advantage and even more desperate when they fall behind one fall. The 2-out-of-3-Falls stipulation generally produces longer matches that have a longer arc.
In a way, it's like getting multiple matches in one.
Shining examples:
Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit-Judgment Day 2001
10. Survivor Series Elimination Match
2 of 11When done right with two teams with legitimate bad blood between each other, the traditional Survivor Series tag team elimination match can be astoundingly dramatic.
Though in recent Survivor Series pay-per-views, we haven't seen that many of these matches—they used to be the event's main focus. A team of five wrestlers face another team of five.
Ideally, each member has a rival on the other team, and there is group hatred as well.
As the match progresses and the numbers shift in one team's favor, the tension builds. A five-on-four advantage can quickly become a five-on-three situation.
It's reminiscent of a baseball or basketball playoff series where teams have to make dramatic comebacks. Several overlapping feuds can be addressed in one match. Several stars can be made to look great regardless of if they win.
The only issue with the match is that the circumstances have to be right. There aren't always enough guys to fill a match like this without throwing in some random people with no motivation.
Shining examples:
Team Alliance vs. Team WWE-Survivor Series 2001
Team Alundra Blayze vs. Team Bertha Faye-Survivor Series 1995
Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff-Survivor Series 2003
9. Steel Cage
3 of 11WWE has since had the classic steel cage evolve, but some of the most intense matches in company history were steel cage matches—and with good reason.
The cage forces two foes to bring their rivalry to a violent close.
Wrestlers scrape their opponents' faces across the steel. They attempt to climb out, only to be thwarted again and again.
It was once the ultimate feud-ender, but WWE has gone on to turn up the brutality with various incarnations of the cage. It stands today as a reminder of the past, a visceral structure to ensnare the height of hatred.
Shining examples:
Bob Backlund vs. Stan Hansen-1981
8. Royal Rumble
4 of 11A traditional battle royal's excitement is weakened by the confusion created by so many wrestlers such a small space. The Royal Rumble version perfects the formula by delaying the entrants.
Adding the stipulation that the winner goes on to main event WrestleMania is a brilliant move. It adds motivation for the wrestlers and anticipation for the fans.
The match can create legends with impressive endurance. Rey Mysterio and Ric Flair, for example, lasted nearly the entire match and added to their resumes.
Pre-existing feuds can flare up and new ones can start. Alliances, temporary or otherwise, often form.
Surprise appearances and returns have become a staple of the match as well. Older wrestlers can whip up our nostalgia.
The Royal Rumble match is the highlight of its pay-per-view and a thrilling way to kick off the year.
Shining examples:
Royal Rumble 1992
7. Triple Threat
5 of 11A Fatal 4-Way or anything larger can become overcrowded and difficult to book. A Triple Threat is often the perfect way to settle feuds that extend beyond two wrestlers.
Three wrestlers means three styles, three move sets, three possible winners. It is far harder to predict.
Often, the action is dizzying. Just as one wrestler seems to have the match won over another, the third one charges in to save themselves.
On a much smaller scale than the Royal Rumble, temporary alliances can form and exciting action can come from several angles.
Shining Examples:
Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker vs. The Rock-Vengeance 2002
6. Street Fight
6 of 11When a feud gets too heated, too personal, the wrestlers have to go beyond the limitations of rules. They have to slip into their more violent, more barbaric selves and fight like animals.
The Street Fight goes by many names. A Bootcamp Match, Texas Death Match or Extreme Rules Match are all the same thing—a match where nothing is disallowed.
Wrestlers cut each other open or smash each other with chairs. We've seen fire and barbed wire, chains and sledgehammers, brutality and desperation.
The beauty of a Street Fight is that anything is allowed, opening the door for the most violent of possibilities. It appeals to our most debase side.
It can be the ultimate score-settler, exhilarating and wild.
Shining examples:
Cactus Jack vs. Triple H-Royal Rumble 2000
Randy Orton vs. Christian-SummerSlam 2011
5. Standard Match
7 of 11Strip away all the gimmicks, all the weapons and sometimes you have an even better match than with all the extra goodies.
Talented in-ring storytellers don't need anything other than themselves, the crowd and the ring.
Wrestling matches already have drama built in. Close two-counts, clever counters and unseen cheating are just some of the tools wrestlers have to create with.
At their best, standard matches let the wrestlers work freely, letting their facial expression and their bodies become artistic tools. Some of the finest classics we've seen over the years have had no gimmick.
David vs. Goliath, master vs. student, former friends turned enemies; these are some of the stories that WWE wrestlers have told us. Fans will never tire of dressed down matches when greatness is involved.
Shining examples:
Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit-Royal Rumble 2003
4. Iron Man Match
8 of 11With extended time given to the match, there are far more opportunities for two wrestlers to shine.
One wrestler may go up several falls, forcing desperation onto his foe. The combatants may go back and forth, trading falls.
It allows us to see more finishing moves, several matches packed inside a single one. The Iron Man is the true test to wrestlers' endurance and to their ability to maintain the crowd's attention for the duration.
It's been treated, as it should, as a special treat for fans—not overdone as of yet.
Shining examples:
Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar-Smackdown 2003
3. Hell in a Cell
9 of 11The cage match turned even more devastating when WWE created Hell in a Cell. Unlike the traditional cage, it offers no escape, no solace.
The fight can continue after the cell's walls have collapsed or after the two combatants climb to the top of the structure.
Hell in a Cell ideally is given as a feud's last resort, a hellacious way to have one wrestler finish off another. Classic after classic have been created inside the cell.
If WWE ever decides to move away from their PG rating, the cell can offer a blood-soaked return to its recent violent past.
Shining examples:
Triple H vs. Chris Jericho-Judgment Day 2002
2. Ladder (includes TLC)
10 of 11The Money in the Bank, Tables, Ladder, Chairs and traditional ladder matches are three of the most fantastic kinds of matches WWE has to offer.
Even with a minimal storyline, a weak feud or a few so-so workers, these matches are always thrill rides.
Wrestlers continue to find creative ways to use the steel ladders as weapons, as springboards, as shields. As the innovation continues, we’ll see wrestlers continue to push the bar with fans being the primary beneficiaries.
Few matches are as violent and as spectacular, as dramatic and as stomach butterfly-inducing as any of the ladder matches.
Stars have been born during these.
Adding the fact that there is almost always a championship or a championship contract on the line, makes the ladder match variations some of WWE's finest work year after year.
Shining examples:
Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon-WrestleMania X
1. Elimination Chamber
11 of 11The Elimination Chamber is a bit of everything. It begins as a one-on-one match inside of an especially dangerous cage.
Soon, one of the pods opens and it becomes a triple threat match. Later, it may have six men battling at once.
It as violent as a steel cage or Hell in a Cell with the addition of steel grates to slam a spine against and pods to spear foes through. It is the latest step in the evolution of the cage and the greatest of its kind so far.
Usually a championship is on the line, adding to the impact of the win.
The only setback to the match is that it's put on too often. What was once a special treat for fans now happens twice a year.
Perhaps one day the novelty of the Elimination Chamber will wear off, but for now it remains the most compelling match we have.
Shining examples:
New Year’s Revolution 2005
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