Which gimmick match is the most consistently good in professional wrestling?

[Paralyzer Z]

There are TONS of matches in the industry that are gimmick matches and have almost always have produced great matches. There are a few that I think almos never fail to make for a great match" The Ultimate X match, The Hell in a Cell, and the Elimination Chamber.

Which one of these is the most consistently creating great match after great match? Well the Ultimate X would have won this, if it had not been tainted by TNA this past summer (Abyss vs Kendrick). I am a sucker for Spot fest and the Ultimate X always had crazy shit, and unique spots go into it. It does not have a perfect track record so I really can't choose this one.

The Hell in a Cell matches are always brutal, and jaw dropping, well they were. The less often these matches take place, the less likely they have a chance to be the bearer of a bad match. The cell really helps the superstars in the match when it is used as a weapon but they need blood. I am against having wrestlers bleed because like high spots and curse words, if they are overused then they fall victim to "The law of diminishing an act". Anyway the HIAC is the only match that needs blood, it is just a nature and the history of the match itself. The recent matches taint the record due to not being very qualitative

My pick here is the Elimination chamber match. Even the worst one at December to Dismember was a half way decent match. The environment and the possibilities the chamber provides makes for some crazy and brutal spots, as well as a lengthy match. Every one has been at least good, never has a bad EC match taken place in my opinion.

I would have added the Money in the Bank Ladder match to the list but the WM26 MITB match was awful IMO. The rest of the matches were great.

In your opinion, which gimmick match is the most consistently good in pro wrestling? Why?

 

[JWGunslinger]

I have to agree with you on Elimination Chamber, when I saw the title I instantly thought of this. A cage like structure will always make things more fun but I've seen boring Steel Cage's as well as Hell In A Cell matches because they can get a bit slow with just two people, with the Elimination Chamber you have all the positives of the caged environment with the added benefit of having 6 superstars in the match so things never get dull. Chamber matches are my favorite gimmick match alongside MITB, they both always deliver such entertainment and epic moments that it's hard not to enjoy them. After going to Elimination Chamber this year in Oakland that really justed sealed it for me, I enjoyed the regular matches that they had that night but nothing was better than seeing that massive structure lowered over the ring and the incredible carnage that ensued, there is nothing boring about the Elimination Chamber, simple as that.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I want to say the Ladder match. It doesn't happen all that often, more now that Money in the Bank is an annual thing, but when it does it's often relatively exciting. Something is always hanging above the ring, meaning the match itself is not the only gimmick. It means there's always something hanging (literally) in the balance. I'm sure there has been one, but I can't remember seeing a brutally bad ladder match in the last decade...

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Ladder Match from me also. WWE can go out and make a DVD, two actually, of the best Ladder Matches they've done. Guys who have featured in great Ladder Matches are Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Bret Hart even and others. It is one of the few gimmick matches which provides a low value of entertainment, however in the case of the already mentioned Elimination Chamber, D2D's was drastic. It was all over the place, half of them had no clue what they were doing, plus the second I think it was, Chamber with Goldberg was poor, at least to me.

Some of the best Ladder Matches I can think of are both Michaels vs. Ramon, The Rock vs. HHH at Summerslam 98, Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio at Summerslam 2005, Benoit vs. Jericho at the 2000 Royal Rumble and in recent times any Money In The Bank Ladder Match plus Jericho vs. HBK which was a classic match for some. To me the best gimmick match will always be the Ladder Match, it always brings great stuff.

 

[Trill Co$by]

Honestly, I always loved the King of the Mountain match. To me, it was the most unique and interesting match in recent times, but it wasn't too hard to follow... the way I considered it, was like mixing King of the Hill, Freeze Tag, and a Ladder match to make one hell of a match. I've not seen a terribly booked King of the Mountain match to be honest. I honestly can't believe that TNA stopped doing the match.

Also, traditional cage matches have always been my favorite match as long as there was proper build to it... and even if not, there's still great storytelling IN the match to make me like them more.

Other honorable mentions are the old school Casket Matches and Ironman Matches.

 

[FlairFan2003]

My vote is TLC - there is a certain level of athleticism you have to have to even attempt this match, plus the ability of wrestlers involved to sell the other guy has to be really good to even try it. Sometimes you do get matches that are just arbitray spot fests but the athletic ability and danger involved makes even those bouts entertaining. And yes, I know Cena and a then 56 year old Flair did TLC matches but those were really good bouts, in fact many people say Edge's bout with Flair was among his best all time. These matches almost never disappoint.


Elimination Chamber is basically just War Games in WWE. They are usually entertaining for the brutality involved (which is a factor in TLC) but they lack the athleticism TLC requires.