I just finished watching Smackdown and heard the announcement that The New Age Outlaws will defend the tag titles against Cody Rhodes & Goldust in a steel cage match on Monday Night Raw. This is a result of Brock Lesnars interference in the title match last week. Triple H stated the rematch would be in a cage so there would be no interference and it would be fair to everyone. Preventing outside interference seems to be the reason for most cage matches over the past few years. In my opinion this devalues the steel cage match.
At the risk of sounding stuck in the past the steel cage match used to be the be all end all of the gimmick matches. The cage match used to be reserved for only the most vicious blood feuds. The point was to keep the competitors in the ring. The door was locked shut and it was just two guys beating the hell out of each other with nowhere to go until there was a winner. It was violent and extreme. It was a prop used to sell the hatred between two wrestlers and a cage match used to be highly anticipated. Now its a prop used for no reason at all and often we dont even know there is going to be a cage match until weve turned on the show. Using a steel cage simply to avoid the possibility of outside interference takes away the true meaning of a cage match.
At the risk of sounding stuck in the past the steel cage match used to be the be all end all of the gimmick matches. The cage match used to be reserved for only the most vicious blood feuds. The point was to keep the competitors in the ring. The door was locked shut and it was just two guys beating the hell out of each other with nowhere to go until there was a winner. It was violent and extreme. It was a prop used to sell the hatred between two wrestlers and a cage match used to be highly anticipated. Now its a prop used for no reason at all and often we dont even know there is going to be a cage match until weve turned on the show. Using a steel cage simply to avoid the possibility of outside interference takes away the true meaning of a cage match.