You’ll have to afford me a brief moment to gloat, LJL. I just can’t accept that backing Ultimate X over the ladder match is anything other than a suicide mission. I’d gladly accept the suicide mission if I’d been charged with it, but it wouldn’t have been my first choice. More power to you, sir. [/classy]
Now, onto business.
I can see at least three core reasons the ladder match is superior to the Ultimate X. To keep this nice and tidy in the early going, I’ll be kind enough to break this down point by point for you.
Reason Number One: Safety
Fight this one all you want, but there’s a healthy pile of psychological experiments which strongly suggest that people are able to complete tasks they’re highly practiced in with more efficiency than ones they’re not. Now, why am I talking about psychology? Well, as you may or may not be aware, there’s a strong body of work that points to a connection between motor function and the brain. Try not to act too shocked here. We’re just getting started.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. What am I babbling about and what does this have to do with a difference in safety between Ultimate X and the ladder match? Well, let’s have a look at the differences in the tasks required of each type of bout.
The ladder match requires a one to climb a ladder. At its core, this is nothing more than a standard household chore that one would get practiced in when charged with tasks such as painting, cleaning the eavestroughs, and other tasks that require someone far taller than the average bear. If you’d like to break it down to an even more basic level, climbing a ladder is little more than climbing a steep set of stairs while also employing the occasional use of your hands.
Ultimate X, on the other hand, charges its participants with the highly irregular task (for most people) of swinging or pulling one’s self across a high wire. Compared with what the ladder match at its core asks of those who take part in it, I’m probably safe in assuming that the Ultimate X asks people to take part in more out of the ordinary physical activity than the ladder match. That would mean that the tasks a ladder match asks of its participants can be completed with more efficiency than the Ultimate X. Ergo, it serves to reason that the Ultimate X match opens the average participant up to more physical risk than the ladder match. Not only is this true of the essential task one needs to complete to be successful in the bout, but of the bumps one takes. One would be far safer bumping from a height off of a structure they’re essentially familiar with in the ladder than attempting to create a novel bump off a high wire, which most people do not find often in their day to day lives.
Am I saying the Ultimate X has produced more injuries than the ladder match? Of course not. In fact, I’m more than willing to accept that the reality is probably the opposite. However, the ladder match has been around far longer than the Ultimate X. The victims that the ladder match has piled up over time is simply a product of its longer and richer history. That’s not to suggest that the Ultimate X match, by nature, doesn’t present a greater threat to those involved. It does, as established above.
Now, I’m sure some out there think I’m helping LJL out by laying down this wicked argument for why the Ultimate X presents more risk to those involved. However, what we all have to remember is that pro-wrestling is a work (“Duh, I know”

. One thing that’s paramount to that is presenting the most convincing danger possible while putting one’s self in the most miniscule amount of danger that the situation allows. While this becomes an extremely difficult task in when one is selling a “high risk” attraction like the ladder match or the Ultimate X, I feel my logic is sound in asserting that the ladder match is the safer bout between the two. Thus, it is superior. If you’re making your workers take more risk, you open yourself up to the loss of bankable talents due to injury. If you’re looking at pro-wrestling as the business it is, than we can all agree this is not cool.
Reason Number Two: Ability to Use Big Names Efficiently
Before I get into this section, I’d just like to point out that I’m a fan of the little men of pro-wrestling. I love the compact, athletic types. However, when looking at pro-wrestling as a business, we all know that (despite the changing of the guard in recent times) a certain caliber of physical specimen has normally provided the greatest return on investment in the United States.
That’s right; I’m talking about your larger men. Not necessarily big men. But larger. Especially your larger men with more run-of-the-mill, conservative wrestling styles. Triple H stands as one of the top draws in WWE history right now. Hulk Hogan is legendary. The Undertaker’s prowess as an overseas draw and special attraction is legendary. Bruno Sammartino and Andre the Giant both define the full framed bankable attractions of yesteryear. And I don’t think I need to tell you who the top attraction in the business today is. But I will: John Cena. After all of this has been established, I don’t think I need to press this issue any further with examples like Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, The Rock, and Goldberg. Simply put, larger men with more conservative styles than your average cruiserweight make up the bulk of your bankable top talent in America.
That said, the mega draws of America are rarely equated with the type of little man associated with your ideal Ultimate X match. In fact, let’s look past the “ideal” Ultimate X: Larger men with more conservative wrestling styles really have no place in the bout PERIOD. The heavier Samoa Joe floundered in his Ultimate X outing. Hernandez excelled only because he is an exception to the standard archetype of a 6’2”, 285lb wrestler, incorporating awe inspiring dives into his repertoire the likes of which would make Triple H shit in his pants. Ultimate X, at its core, is associated with the type of smaller wrestlers with a video game character move sets that have, for the most part, only been associated with fringe appeal in the United States. To incorporate larger, more traditional wrestlers in the match would only invite the use of a ladder to make the situation work, and that’s a point in the ladder match’s column. It speaks to the variety of men who can successfully work a ladder match. When you look back over the last year and see that larger and conservative wrestlers have worked highly successful ladder matches (from Big Show, to Triple H, to Drew McIntyre, to Jack Swagger, to Kane, and so forth), it becomes apparent that the ladder match allows more bankable stars to participate, which in turn makes it a more bankable attraction.
Reason Number Three: Quality of Performance
While I’ve recently encountered some scruples deep within my soul regarding dictating what is quality wrestling and what isn’t, I can say without a shadow of doubt that the ladder match produces better performances than Ultimate X. It all goes back to the point I tackled in the section on safety: People carry out tasks which are more familiar to them with a greater degree of efficiency. This extends to the quality of spots one can perform in the ladder match. In many an Ultimate X match, I’ve seen men bump on their feet far more often than their back. There’s a fear involved in working on high wires that simply inhibits one’s ability to perform some of those picture perfect, highlight reel worthy spots we’ve all comes to associate with the ladder match.
And why not associate such beautiful spots and great moments with the ladder match? Just look at what the ladder match offers participants. Solid, familiar structures that participants have plenty of direct and indirect experience to draw on which leads to a more efficient performance. Structures that can be manipulated and used as weapons or bumped on. A deep bank of classic, high quality ladder matches from the past to draw inspiration from. With resources like that and big names to lend to the wholesale appeal of particular ladder matches (bringing with them that intangible “big fight feel”

, how can one deny the past quality of this match format or the potential for future quality?
Simply put, the ladder match has it all and is far superior as a “high risk” attraction than Ultimate X.