The Matches That Were EXCLUSIVE for TNA Wrestling

[Shadows Over Hell]

The following list contains former match types from TNA Wrestling. These matches were created by TNA Wrestling and are no longer regularly seen on the IMPACT Wrestling product unlike the "Matches of IMPACT Wrestling". While you may see them on the "One Night Only" specials, they haven't occurred in the past year on either IMPACT Wrestling or on PPV. The following list are the most notable ones (with Ultimate X, Lethal Lockdown and Monster's Ball appearing on the "Matches of IMPACT Wrestling" list).

3 Degrees of Pain
This match is a Best Two Out of Three Falls Cage Match. In the first fall, it was pinfall only. The second fall was submission only. The third fall (if there was one) was Escape from the cage. There have only been two of these matches in TNA history and both were feud-enders. Not only is the cage a weapon but to win, you would need to have a varied offense. For this reason, Kurt Angle is the only man to have competed in both matches.

Barbed Wire Massacre
The ropes are replaced with razor-sharp barbed wire, as are the weapons and some parts of the arena. The barbed wire can be used against an opponent in any way to secure a victory. Abyss and Sabu battled in the first Barbed Wire Massacre with Abyss still having scars to this very day.

Doomsday Chamber of Blood
The monster Abyss was never known as a creative genius; however this match came from the mind of the monster. This is a lethal combination of the Barbed Wire Cage, Six Sides of Steel and Sadistic Madness. The cage has a roof of barbed wire. Blood is guaranteed as you can only pin your opponent by first making them bleed. A man would have to be crazy to come up with a match like this.

Elevation X
This match, places a large, 20-foot high scaffold, in the shape of an "X", over the ring. The match only ends when one man throws his opponent off the structure to the ring far below. This match is one of the most dangerous matches in the history of wrestling as one wrong move could end a wrestler’s career.

Feast or Fired
This controversial multiple man match has four briefcases hanging on four poles in the ring. Inside the briefcases are three championship title shots (World, X Division, Tag Team Division) and one pink slip. The match of ultimate risk vs reward sees the participants battle it out to be able to pull down the briefcases and learn of their fate. But make sure that you are outside the ring, because only when you are touching the floor will you earn the contents of the briefcase.

Full Metal Mayhem
Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Chains are all legal in Full Metal Mayhem! To win, you must climb the ladder and bring down the championship title or contract suspended high in the air. To get there though you must first go through the physical pain that goes along with Full Metal Mayhem! A sudden move can change the entire outcome!

Gauntlet For the Gold
TNA’s version of a Royal Rumble. Eliminations occur by throwing your opponent over the top rope to the floor. Unlike a normal battle royal however the final two competitors cannot be eliminated by being thrown from the ring, instead the match becomes a normal bout as they must pin their opponent or force him to submit. If a championship is on the line in the match then the match is re-titled Gauntlet for the Gold.

Hangman's Horror

To earn a victory in this match you need to wrap your opponent's neck with a steel chain and then proceed in hanging him over the ring ropes. Once he is declared unconscious by the referee, the person in charge of the horrific hanging will gain the victory. The sane people of this world definitely keep their distance from a match of this stature, but for the mentally insane, they treat this like paradise.


House of Fun
From the mind of Raven comes the "Clockwork Orange House of Fun Match." The House of Fun is a match that tests your will for survival upon barbarism. Weapons are suspended from steel chains around the ring, with one side of the six-sided ring covered with a steel cage – anything is legal and falls count anywhere! The appearance of blood is definite!


King of the Mountain
Behind Ultimate X and Lethal Lockdown, the King of the Mountain Match is the biggest one exclusive to TNA. From 2004-2009, the KOTM was an annual mainstay on TNA's anniversary show, Slammiversary. 5 men (one being champion) would enter. This "reverse ladder match" was a grueling test of endurance. It was until 2008 that no champion ever successfully defended his championship in the King of the Mountain Match.

The final objective was to climb the ladder and hang the championship belt to win the match. However, one must qualify to do that. To qualify you would have to pin or submit one of your four opponents. If you happened to do so, you would qualify to hang the belt and your opponent would have to sit in a penalty box for two minutes. At that point, the qualified candidates would be able to climb the ladder and hang the belt.

This match was all about strategy. It was a race to get qualified and a race to the top of the ladder. Alliances were formed, victories were stolen and controversy was to be had. To this day, the King of the Mountain Match is the one most requested to return to the TNA product.

Match of 10,000 Tacks
997...998...999....1,000 Thumbtacks. At a time when hardcore was the cool thing in TNA Wrestling, the thumbtack match was one way to settle your differences. There is almost nothing as painful as having 1,000 thumbtacks stick out your back. For the men brave enough to enter the match, the winner would be decided by who could put his opponent through the bed of tacks.

Reverse Battle Royal
Debuting in 2006 as part of the first-ever Fight for the Right Tournament, the Reverse Battle Royal was definitely a unique one. More than a dozen wrestlers would start outside the ring. It would then be a grueling journey for 8 wrestlers who would have to be the first to climb onto the apron and enter the ring over the top rope. It was a race and it was a climb.

At that point, the 8 wrestlers would compete in an over-the-top Battle Royal to determine seeding in the Fight for the Right Tournament. When it came down to the final two wrestlers, they would compete in a regular match with the winner getting a "distinct advantage" in the tournament.


Steel Asylum
Originally called the "TerrorDome" during its creation at Sacrifice 2008, the Steel Asylum Match can be considered one of the most chaotic and difficult matches in TNA history. The orange structure has a small opening at the top. After the many participants of the match have entered, a wrestler needs to battle with the others until he receives an opportunity. He will then climb the structure and attempt to get through the hole in the top. This is easier said than done as some wrestlers in the match have considered this match nearly impossible to win (Homicide).

X-Scape Match
This X-Division exclusive match was a favorite was a traditional X-Division Match come every year at Lockdown. 4-8 competitors will enter the match but through elimination, one by one they will fall. When it gets down to the final two, the purpose is then to climb out of the cage over the top. This match has seen its share of daredevil moments.

So, do you miss them???

Being a TNA fan (not a IMPACT WRESTLING fan), I crave for their return.

TNA4Life.

 

[ABMorales787]

A 3 Degrees Of Pain match took place in 2011 and there was a Full Metal Mayhem match in 2011 too. The Reverse Battle Royal, Blood Chamber, Feast or Fired, Gauntlet For The Gold, Elevation X, the Steel Asylum and whatever match Raven made were all overbooked messes and some were voted as worst matches of the year. Barbed Wire Massacre is rare for obvious reasons. X-Scape is just plain stupid (What, forgot about Queen of the Cage?).

King Of The Mountain is the only match that would be worth bringing back for anything as the match has had some historic company moments. But other than that, the rest have no reason being brought back. FMM and the 3 Falls match never left of course, but we can't be getting our facts straight all the time.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If TNA wants to be a more mainstream wrestling company, by which I mean a wrestling company that draws bigger crowds, more viewers & makes more money, then a lot of these matches just don't fit.

TNA is now going on the road, which means that their wrestlers are going to have to deal with more of the big time grind that WWE wrestlers do. That means the company has to do what it can to keep them as healthy as possible. That's one big reason why you won't likely see stuff like Elevation X and all those variations of hardcore matches on anything remotely resembling even a semi-regular basis. Plus, in case you weren't aware, there's been a huge backlash against matches with extreme violence in them over the past several years, what with wrestlers dropping dead at young ages or popping pain pills like Skittles to cope with injuries inflicted by a lifetime of matches that, for the most part, are cock fights with people instead of chickens. It's one thing to wrestle a match like that every once in a while, but it's quite another to do so on a somewhat regular basis.

Some matches are just unnecessary. Feast or Fired is basically a clusterfucked version of WWE's Money in the Bank concept. The Reverse Battle Royal may be the single most idiotic match ever created, that's why there's only been one of them to my knowledge. King of the Mountain was another overbooked clusterfuck that involved any number of unnecessary stipulations. However, among the many clusterfucks of TNA's past, King of the Mountain is one of the few that might deserve to see the light of day again. The Steel Asylum was done away with after the 1-4-10 episode in which all of the X Division wrestlers in the match were, literally, too physically weak to haul themselves out of the top of the cage. Hogan called it an embarrassment that made the company look somewhat bush league for their first ever live television airing.

Also, a lot of those matches took place during a time in TNA when the X Division was basically the main event while the NWA World Heavyweight Championship picture was, ti some degree, the mid-card. The X Division, with the exception of Austin Aries, hasn't been all that relevant in TNA in many years, really since even before Hogan came to TNA. Some of these matches are still around, just used very rarely in TNA. TNA pulled out any number of gimmick matches so often that they lost their luster. The novelty of a gimmick match is that it's a match that you don't see very often.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Very well put together thread.

What the hell, I'll go match-by-match...

3 Degrees of Pain
I think that we will see this match come back. There is nothing too strange or gimmicky about the concept. The issue with this match is that to be what it should be it needs to be part of a relevant, personal, and extended program between two well-rounded workers.

Barbed Wire Massacre
For a mainstream company this is the pinnacle of violence. TNA isn't an ultra-violent company in the vein of CZW for example. These kind of matches, if they do happen, should be done very few and very far between. Even ECW didn't make a habit of barbed-wire rope matches.

Doomsday Chamber of Blood & House of Fun
These clusterfuck of violence cage matches are too over-the-top and the product of demented over imagination. Lethal Lockdown combines weapons and the cage perfectly. Let these two die away.

Elevation X
There is a reason scaffold matches have been rare, and gotten rarer- you can guess why. Also nothing too interesting happens until someone falls, then its over. Its a waste of time on the card, and a waste of time and effort to erect the structure.

Feast or Fired
There is nothing overbooked or overly complicated about F-of-F, its a "contract on a pole" match with four contracts. I'd love to see it brought back, but to really make it relevant the mid card title shots that the wrestlers are taking a risk to obtain need to seem like they're worthy of the risk. Right now they do not.

Full Metal Mayhem
Hasn't gone away to my knowledge, and better never go away. This is just a TLC match essentially, so its not really innovative, but it is still a great concept that should live on.

Gauntlet For the Gold
Again a battle Royal where the final two men compete in a tradional fall format isn't a TNA innovation, but still a great match that I prefer ten-fold to a basic Battle Royal. The Joker's Wild ONO Special will feature one. Hopefully it won't be the last.

Hangman's Horror
No. Just no.

King of the Mountain
This match seems convoluted on paper, but in practice it actually comes off much less confusing. These matches have typically produced great results, and they are inherently "TNA". I hate that KotM went away and would love to see it brought back as a Slammiversary staple.

Match of 10,000 Tacks
I can get behind this easier than I can get behind TNA booking a barbed-wire ropes match, still bringing tacks into play happens in almost all Abyss hardcore matches, the tacks don't need their own concept match.

Reverse Battle Royal
Worst concept ever?

Steel Asylum
This a giant cartoon come to life. And not in a good way.

X-Scape Match
There is nothing complicated about a multi-man elimination cage match where one of the final two workers must escape the cage to win. In fact its a great idea. Making it a match that features exclusively X-talent, way better idea. I love escape matches, and one will be featured at the Xtavaganza ONO special. Having a Lockdown card without an X-scape match? Fucking stupid idea. But then again having a TNA with basically no X-division to feature in it is even stupider, so...

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

I loved Full Metal Mayhem and King Of The Mountain. The rest were just kinda there or sucked (Elevation X & Reverse Battle Royal).

While we did get a FMM match in 2011 with the guns and gen me I think we should get another one soon even if its just basically a TLC match now that they got rid of the chains as a weapon in it. King Of The Mountain I think everybody would love to see return. It would have been awesome to see that at Slammivsery last year and a great way to make sure Roode wouldn't have cheated to retain his belt.

I'd be surprised to see any of these besides FMM back ever again. Hogan seems to hate KOTM and Barbwire Massacre & Elevation X are too dangerous to return. Reverse Battle Royal was total crap and was voted worst match of the year. 3 Degrees Of Pain (or "ultra male rules match" as Double J called it) could also easily come back.

 

[TheHorndogSays]

The following list contains former match types from TNA Wrestling. These matches were created by TNA Wrestling and are no longer regularly seen on the IMPACT Wrestling product unlike the "Matches of IMPACT Wrestling". While you may see them on the "One Night Only" specials, they haven't occurred in the past year on either IMPACT Wrestling or on PPV. The following list are the most notable ones (with Ultimate X, Lethal Lockdown and Monster's Ball appearing on the "Matches of IMPACT Wrestling" list).

TNA4Life.

Ehh technically quite a few of these matches originated in other companies either in US or Japan. I know for fact the barbed wire match was a Japan creation.

The blood bath ones would not be good for Impact's public image. The only would I wouldn't mind see make a return is the Ultimate X match as either a good match to determine a new champion (should TNA decide to stick with having the X champ turn in his title for a TNA title shot) or simply have it as a number one contender match for a X division match later that night.

I almost wanted to bring back King of the Mountain but I feel the rules are way too complicated for the casual fan to understand. If they do bring it back do away with the pin falls needed and the time out cage. I'm not a fan of the match itself requiring you to put the title back on the hook as the point should be to grab the title however I think it would make a very good way for wrestlers to QUALIFY for the match. On the TV broadcasts leading up to the PPV, they should have singles/triple/4-way qualifying matches where the goal is to put a contract on the hook with the winners going to the match itself. It would help build interest for the KOTM match by giving a preview of sorts for the match.

 

[Brother Love]

Of all the matches listed, I'd like to see the Gauntlet For the Gold match on a yearly basis, maybe at one of their pay per views. Everyone likes a battle royal and unlike most of the other matches, this one requires little setup or special structures. I would make one minor change to this match and have the wrestlers who were eliminated wait outside the ring so when it came down to the final two it would not just be a regular wrestling match, it would be a lumberjack match. Granted battle royals and lumberjack matches are not original, but combining the two would be different.

The 3 Degrees of pain is another match that could be brought back and easily setup on the road as it only requires a cage. Great for grudge matches and not sure why they stop using this one.

Most of the others are just gimick matches that I don't really miss (especially the thumb tac matches which I cringe watching). Some of them may be original and maybe could be used on a special occasion but not on a regular basis.

 

[ABMorales787]

I don't take kindly to plagiarizing. Don't do it again.