Punjabi Prison Match: Good Or Bad

[Judah's Lion]

very simply said, the Punjabi Prison is a very "gimmicky" type of match. even the table between the two cages had this cloth on it to make it look like it came from ancient India when it was in fact just a table. and it was introduced to a very gimmicky character in the Great Khali.

to the posters that say replace the bamboo with steel, i say you're talking about the Hell in a Kennel match which was in fact two steel cages. or just a plain steel cage. either way, that's a bad idea because then it becomes just the same as any other cage match and this one was definitely different.

this match kinda reminds me of TNA's King of the Mountain match in the gimmickyness of it. you have to get a decision by pinfall or submission to get someone inside the penalty box and even be qualified to climb the ladder = you have four doors that open but only stay open for a minute. just kind of a lot of rules for such a barbaric match.

i thought the match between Show and Taker was okay. they used the structure well and Show throwing Taker thru the door and to the ring was clever storytelling. at least it made sense. the ending was pretty terrible though. Batista and Khali did as good a job as they could and it was enjoyable enough.

i wonder if they could do this match with Khali as a referee or enforcer instead of a participant... that way it could stay connected to him but have performers that would be more suited to this kind of match. so far, with the two that we've seen, i'd say that i like the idea and concept of this kind of barbaric match, but the execution left more than a little something to be desired. can i vote for a maybe or depends?

[Dagger Dias]

The Punjabi Prison match was very unique. It gets a lot of negative attention and that has got to be due to it being associated with Khali. We all know how gifted Khali was in the ring, not so much. He sucked. Now, ignore Khali's involvement in the match for a moment and take a look at what we had here. Bamboo cage within a larger bamboo cage. How is that not an interesting match concept? The regular steel cage used in cell matches has been done, this was good simply for being something refreshing. I would not mind seeing another one of these matches.

They should try this match again at some point. Just because Khali sucks doesn't mean that we should miss out on a different match type. We have No Way Out coming up eventually, so why not bring this back, it could be just for one match. Khali does not have to be in it, put guys who can truly put on a show in there. I realize that I am in the minority, but it was nowhere near as bad as some people would want you to think. WWE should give it another chance.

[The Cult]

I liked the match type, I thought it was something different and think it could be used again maybe with no way out coming up it might be

[The Risen Paralyzer]

It seems like a cool idea at first, and an even better visual but all that aside neither of the matches ever really delivered.

The concept of climbing both cages is really cool as I said, but the whole "keep all four doors open" thing was overly complicated. They should have just made it so that the competitors simply had to climb over both cages, no doors needed. I think they were trying to incorporate some characteristics from the steel cage match into it, which essentially it is with the exception of bamboo replacing steel. The sheer size of it alone was enough to amaze me at first, then I saw the quality of the match.

It's biggest problem is that with it's name, the match must be attached to The Great Khali and or Jinder Mahal. As some have said having other more agile less limited participants in the match would be welcome but it really wouldn't make much sense without Khali involved. Obviously the name pretty much makes it to Khali as the casket match is to the Undertaker. It's not like Hell in a Cell or a steel cage match where it's pretty much universal for all superstars and feuds. Imagine a Belfast Brawl without Finlay? That is pretty much what this match would be without a Punjabi superstar involved, illogical. Considering that Khali is very limited in terms of what he can do in the ring, and Mahal not being much better the concept or structure has never been utilized to it's fullest ability.

To me it's like the Scramble match, they tried it and it never caught on. I don't think it was a bad idea but neither do I think we will be seeing it again.

[The Liar]

I wouldn't mind it coming back, though I think they need to do a better job of putting cameras inside the structure. The only major gripe I had was that you couldn't really see what was going on inside, even on television. The match seems best suited for gimmicky monster type characters, although I think it could work for Jinder Mahal if they wanted it to.

[Nate]

Didn't like it. Escape type matches are always boring to me as it's usually just a 10-20 minute session of watching 2 guys try to climb something at an excruciatingly slow speed. I'm sure there are some guys that could come up with some insane spots in that sort of environment. But they'd have to do away with the Punjabi name and maybe just make it 2 regular cages surrounding each other rather than the bamboo shit.

Khali is never going to have a significant enough feud to warrant a gimmick match fo that nature and I doubt Jinder Mahal will be significant enough to warrant having a PPV Gimmick match. Might as well lose the Indian association.

[Hero_kidstackz]

It looks cool as hell but everyone above is right not a great match its compicatd and why is it khali signature match a cage? One you actually have to climb at that hes way to big to win like your auctally supposed too

[Equimanthorn]

I think my feelings on the match have been expressed by various other posters in this thread.

I personally enjoyed both matches, and all men involved really sold how terrifying a structure it was. JBL on commentary made it sound like something out of a Saw film and Big Show looked like he was about to have a breakdown. I especially liked the fact that JBL made up some fake heritage about it being feared in India due to it's brutality.

The structure itself is menacing as hell and the door system gave it a tactical edge which is not something you really see in Gimmick matches. Obviously, if they were to do it again, they'd need to work on camera positioning, but it had definite potential.

The one downside is that it's stigmatised with the stench of Khali. It was a match devised for him and would probably only be used in a match involving him, so many people bag it because he's associated with it and don't want to see him ever again. That said, I think it could easily be appropriated for Jinder Mahal. Have him in a match with Kofi or someone of that ilk and you could really elevate the fued, and elevate the match with a great performance.

[Shining Mizard]

A gimmick match to this extreme has TNA written all over it. I'm all for gimmick matches but sometimes less is more. This match was way to complicated for most people to stay interested in.

[Xemmy Le'Beau]

The Prison could have been a great match. The biggest problem is that it's the "signature match" of the Great Khali. A wrestler who is never apart of good matches. This automatically doomed the Prison for failure. There are lots of other superstars that could make it work, and I thought that Big Show and Taker did alright with what they were given. If you got the right workers, this match could be incredibly entertaining. But the first two just weren't that good, and I'm glad we haven't seen one since.