Spandex and Steel: Favorite Type of "Dangerous" Gimmick Match

[The Crock]

Looking at "dangerous" gimmick matches in wrestling, which is your favorite? Think of matches like Cage matches, Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber, Ladder, TLC, etc. Out of all of those matches, although they're all quite successful ways to end feuds, which one is most effective. Out of all those matches, which would you most rather see?

They're all exciting, unique matches, so it is by no means an easy choice. I always enjoy seeing a huge feud cap-off with one of these matches. I like to see what wrestlers can do with their environment, whether it be a cage, cell, or a ladder. I truly believe that participating in one of these matches just adds another "performer" in the match. The entertainment value of all these matches comes from the improvisation that the performers can show us.

All that being said, it's time to make a decision. My choice is a TLC Match. Why you ask? Why would I choose this when I can choose something like the Elimination Chamber? Simple. A TLC match offers wrestlers a chance to showcase their best abilities. Anybody can put on a decent match, but it takes a stellar perfomer or a set of performers to put on a superb TLC match. Some of my favorite all-time matches are TLC matches. The thing I enjoy most about TLC matches is the legitimacy they add to feuds. It makes the feud seem so much more lethal and "extreme". It is one HELL of a match.

What do you guys think?

 

[Davi323]

Money In The Bank. Take a normal ladder match, and put 6, 8, 10 wrestlers in it. Add in far more ladders than you need, and you get the perfect match to kick off Wrestlemania every year to get the crowd into it. Throw in the unpredictability of who is going to win, and you have a great violent match.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

TLC for me too.

This type of match allows the participants to have so much creativity. Much more so than any other type of gimmick match. Plus is combines two types of match- table and ladder, so those 2 are immediately pointless to choose as your favourite type of match as you may as well go with a TLC match.

Now, while I do love Cage and HIAC, and they can look more brutal, with a wrestler having his face dragged over the steel mesh, I much prefer the spectacular aspect of the TLC match. The ladder can be used for high-flying aerial attacks, the chairs can add the hardcore aspect, and the tables can be destroyed in so many ways. The possibilities in this type of match are almost endless.

We have seen phenomenal TLC matches almost every time this gimmick has been employed, and I have always wondered how HBK would have fared had his famous ladder matches with Razor Ramon being TLC and not just a basic ladder match. My guess is that they would be even better.

Some of my favourite memories in wrestling are of the Hardyz/E&C/Dudleyz TLC matches

 

[Ferbian]

For me it's the Last Man Standing match. It has a pretty good history of some brutal matches with great spots and generally just great matches.

Sure some wasn't as great as others, but I'd like to say of those I've seen it's been pretty tough to point out a bad Last Man Standing match.

It's one of those kinda rare matches, because we're never guaranteed one due to the lack of gimmick Pay Per Views behind it. Sure we've gotten one at Backlash 2009 and Extreme Rules 2010, so once a year at least. But it's still something rather rare, and something that is worth every minute of it. Especially the way Batista vs John Cena tore it down, even with the crooked finish it had both looking like physical beasts.

So it has to be the Last Man Standing match. Sure there's been a lot of other great hardcore wrestling matches. But this really stands out as the best for me.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I'm ALMOST with Ferbian on this. I'd agreed with him at first read, but as I type my response, I have to change up a bit.

The TLC match, on paper, favors the spot monkeys for the most part. I feel it's just a bunch of high spots and brutal one-off moves, but it accomplishes little other than the "what are they setting up...where are they going with this...OH SHIT!" reaction that takes under 30 seconds to acheive. It's vaguely similar to when I lost my virginity.

The Steel Cage match is a neat choice, but the option of escaping in a match that is supposed to be vaunted for its inescapability is contradictive.

Last Man Standing is brutal, can accomodate all styles, etc. What it does not do is prevent interference. See: John Cena / Big Show / choke-slam through the spotlight.

I also thought of submission, but it favors a particular style of wrestler. I'd favor Daniel Bryan in that type of match against almost anyone.

So I bring you my two finalists:

1. Hell in a Cell. It ends in pinfall or submission only, and prevents escape. While you can leave the cage, doing so does not end the match. It does not altogether end interference though.

2. War Games. This is like Hell in a Cell, but it is team-oriented, and it can ONLY end in submission. Somebody has to say "I'm willing to concede this feud if you'll stop beating on me." To me, submission is always better than pin, because pin can be a roll up out of no where. A submission ending to a long feud is always best.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Have to go with Hell In A Cell to be honest.

When that structured would lower over the ring, the crowd's murmurs were awe-inspiring. When used to its fullest it gives you some of the most memorable matches ever. I think HBK/Taker, Taker/Mankind and Foley/Hunter, and all the flash-bulb spots in them.

Was there anything more nail-biting than seeing a superstar groggy at the very edge of it's roof?
True, these days it can't be used like it was, but in it's 'hey-day' The Hell In A Cell was THE feud-ender and guaranteed an epic moment.

 

[KeepItFresh]

Yeah, I got to go with Hell in a Cell. The way it's being used now doesn't really reflect why it was created in the first place. It usually ended feuds that needed something extra. Feuds that needed that sort of brutality. It's nothing like that anymore. Still, I hope they start using it like that again, but it's kind of hard now seeing as they'd have to prepare and book months in advance for the PPV that it is now held on.

Also, I see a lot of people here prefer spotfests. TLC and Ladder matches produce those awful displays of unrealistic maneuvers just to hear the fans pop. It's no surprise they are popular. I just can hardly condone them. You rarely see an actual story in those type of matches, it's just a bunch of random moves off ladders.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Its got to be Hell in a Cell for me too. I mean the number of "dangerous" moments that we have seen in this match type outnumber the "dangerous" moments that we might have seen in any other match type. I mean first you have Shawn falling off the top, then Foley replicating and outdoing what Shawn did, then Foley again falling off the top and into the ring and thereby changing the structure of the ring( vs Triple H). Then you have Undertaker bleeding like a pig against Brocklesnar. The point that I am trying to make is that Cell has been providing us with all types of great moments ever since it was devised.

TLC's sometimes tend to be spotfests and its something that I have rather come to associate with tag team matches rather than singles matches. Last Man Standing matches are great as a concept but the quality of the LMS matches that we have had in the past do not compare to the quality of Hell in a Cell matches.

So, my choice is the Hell in a Cell match.

 

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

I've always liked the I Quit match. Just the basic idea of it is brilliant. Beat the shit out of your opponent until he says "I Quit". The two words that any man, let alone a wrestler, has trouble saying without losing his manhood.

While the last few I Quit matches haven't been amazing, they have been pretty good. The Batista vs John Cena match was a good match and a perfect way for Batista to leave. John Cena's I Quit matches with JBL and Randy Orton were brutal and so emotional. Another match that comes to mind is the Rock vs Mankind I Quit match in 99. The idea that Mankind would quit was so ludicrous going into the match, you know how much it takes to take him down in a normal match, how much would it take to make hm Quit. While the ending was a bit disappointing, it worked for the story and the match was brutal with both men beating the living shit out of each other.

The fact that this match has only been done 13 times in the WWE adds a finality factor to it. This is the ultimate final match because you not only have to beat your opponent, you have to beat them down so bad that they throw away their manhood and say "I Quit" facing the humiliation that comes with that.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Hell In A Cell.

Cell matches used to be sooo brutal and bloody. This match has provided us with many memorable moments. Hell In A Cell is a brutal match, but the Cell has also provided us with a good amount of good/great wrestling matches. Cell matches aren't as brutal as they used be, but I still can remember the good times from the past.

The Elimination Chamber would be a close second for me. Chamber matches can provide us with many jaw dropping spots, and this match can be as brutal as Hell In A Cell. I'll never forget how Goldberg tore through almost everyone at Summerslam 2003. Chamber matches can have some jaw dropping spots, and this match always manages to entertain me.

 

[LSN80]

Last Man Standing Match is far and away my favorite "gimmick" match. That and the "I Quit" match allow for some of the best storytelling you can find within the ring.

I look back at the HHH/HBK match at the Royal Rumble 2004 for no further proof. A physical, blood feud between two men who absolutely hated each other. The near "falls" were perfectly executed, and HBK landing the SCM only to fall himself for a 10 count was perfectly done. Its what all LMS matches should strive to be. It was an example of a match that can be a bloodbath and still tell a fantastic story. On the other side, the match doesn't HAVE to be bloody to be fantastic. Great storytelling can carry a LMS match despite the absence of blood. The absence of blood hurts other gimmick matches due to the "moments" they've produced in the past compared to what they are now.

A Last Man Standing Match allows both men to beat each other up badly, without taking away from the credibility and believability of the match. Unlike in most matches, a draw is an acceptable and reasonable outcome because of the extreme physicality of the match. Any other match would be a huge disapointment if it ended in a draw. A Last Man Standing Match doesn't fall within the same ballpark.

Batista and Undertaker in 2007 at Backlash and Randy Orton vs HHH on Raw in 2009 were perfect examples of this. Neither match was extraordinarily bloody, but both men beat each other up so badly that neither could answer the count of ten. It allows a feud to continue, and even in a loss, the loser of the match doesn't necessarily look weak because of the brutality of the match. Cena and Umaga at Royal Rumble 2007, HHH vs Orton at No Mercy 07 and Cena vs Edge at Backlash 09 were examples of creative finishes where the losing superstar still looked strong in defeat.

So for the storytelling, the believability, unpredictability, creative finishes and a "permissable draw", the Last Man Standing Match is my favorite "gimmick" match.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Call me boring, call me old, call me whatever you like, but I still, and always will love the old classic Steel Cage. The whole thing just scream danger. Two men are trapped inside a Cage made of sold steel, there locked in there and they try to kill one another. That's the basic outline of it. It's rules are fun and simple, and there have been many great matches and moments made with the cage.

I don't think any of us will ever forget things like Rhodes winning the World Title inside the Cage, Snuka doing the splash from the top, Austin being thrown through the Cage etc... The Cage is also the prototype for matches like Elimination Chamber, War Games, Hell in a Cell and many, many more. It's a staple of professional wrestling and it's the greatest gimmick match in my opinion.

 

[.]

I've always loved to see a falls count anywhere match or last man standing. Simply because the build up is usually two people that continuously kick the living shit out of one another.

The Last man standing match is great because it doesn't matter who gets the pin but it matters who has the better Willpower & endurance out of the two combabtants. Usually feuds that tell beautiful hardcore stories end with matches like these and usually deliver quite well. It's a much better idea than the Texas death match which requires a pin. That brings elements of wrestling into the match whereas the last man standing match is just an all out brawl.

The falls count anywhere match is also good as i enjoy to see features such as two stars fighting all around an arena. Usually the match has a good result.