Some of them are major crowd pleasing and occur relatively frequently, while others are developed so as to advance an angle, and thus, such match types are used rarely. Specific match types in professional wrestling are often notable due to either their frequent use, logistics of setup, or a memorable instances of such a match. Often, specialty matches are used as a finale to a popular or infamous storyline.
Because professional wrestling's existence has spanned over decades, and many things in it have been recycled, many gimmick match types are actually variations of previous gimmick matches, match types can be organized into several loose groups. The following is a list of common or otherwise notable match types.
Variations of singles matches
The standard wrestling match (or 'one fall match') involves two wrestlers attempting to win the match through either pinfall or submission while not getting disqualified, or "counted out"—caught outside of the ring for a referee's count of 10 or 20, depending on the companies' rules.In matches where championships are being contested, the champion typically retains the title in the event of a disqualification or countout finish, no matter which competitor was disqualified or counted out in what is known as the "champion's advantage". Commentators and bookers generally explain it as saying the challenger "must beat" the champion. Playing into this, some storylines have heel champions attempting to protect their title by intentionally causing such losses.
Some of the most common variations on the singles match restrict the possible means for victory: only pinfalls are permitted in a Pin only or Pinfall match, only submissions in a Submission match, etc. Another variation is a Time Limit match in which a match is contested until a time limit is reached or a wrestler achieves victory; in the event of the former, a separate method (audience reaction, "judges", or even a rematch) is used to determine the winner. Time Limit matches were invented during the vaudeville days of professional wrestling as a way to stop matches that lasted well into hours. A Battle of Respect is often held in tribute to another wrestler, where all means of victory are removed (that is, wrestlers simply wrestle each other for a fixed amount of time, without victory taken into consideration).
The following matches have their own articles due to being commonplace:
* Barbed wire match
* "I Quit" match
* Iron Man match
* Monster's Ball match
* Ultimate X match
Empty Arena match
An Empty Arena match is a hardcore match between two or more wrestlers which takes place in an arena void of fans. The only people present are the competitors, referee, and cameraperson(s). The match is broadcast, or videotaped and played later. e.g. The Rock vs Mankind during the WWF's Super Bowl halftime show on January 31, 1999.
Falls Count Anywhere match
A Falls Count Anywhere match is a match where pinfalls or submission can take place in any location, negating the standard rule that they must take place inside the ring and between the ropes. As such, this also eliminates the usual "countout" rule. As the match may take place in various parts of the arena, the "Falls Count Anywhere" provision is almost always accompanied with a "No Disqualification" stipulation to make the match a hardcore match, so as to allow wrestlers the convenience to use any objects they may find wherever they wrestle.
A variation of the rules state that once a pinfall takes place, the pinned wrestler will lose the match if he is unable to return to the ring within a specific amount of time—usually a referee's count of 10 or 30. If the pinned wrestler makes it to the ring in this time, the match continues. Under these rules, all pinfalls must take place outside of the ring, technically making the match no longer falls count anywhere.Occasionally, this stipulation is listed as having a specific territory in which falls count, (e.g. the state, county, or general location the match is in).
A new variation on the stipulation was introduced by WWE at WWE Breaking Point 2009: Submissions Count Anywhere, a Falls Count Anywhere match that can only be won by Submission, which was won by Legacy against DX.
Flag match
The Flag match is essentially the professional wrestling version of capture the flag. For the match two flags are placed on opposite turnbuckles, each representing a specific wrestler or team of wrestlers, and the object of the match is to retrieve the opponent's flag and raise it while defending the flag in the wrestler's corner.
An Anthem match is a variant of a Flag match with the added stipulation that the Theme song of the winning wrestler or team will be played in the arena after the match.
Handicap match
A Handicap match is any match where one wrestler or team of wrestlers face off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as two against one, or three against two. In some two-on-one handicap matches the team with superior numbers act under tag team rules, with one person in the ring at a time.
Iron man match
An Iron Man Match is a multiple-fall match with a set time limit. The match is won by the wrestler who wins the most falls within the said time limit, by either pinfall, submission, disqualification, countout, or knockout. Notably successful Iron Man matches include Ricky Steamboat Vs Rick Rude from WCW's Beach Blast event in 1992 and Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels at WWF's WrestleMania XII event in 1996.
Lumberjack match
In keeping with the theme, the wrestlers outside the ring may wear flannel shirts during Lumberjack matches. 1-2-3 Kid circa 1995.
A Lumberjack match is a standard match with the exception that the ring is surrounded by a group of wrestlers not directly involved in it. These wrestlers, known collectively as lumberjacks—or sometimes lumberjills when they're female—are there to prevent the wrestlers in the match from fleeing the ring. The groups of lumberjacks are typically split up into groups of faces and heels who occupy opposing sides around the ring. Usually, the "opposing" lumberjacks (that is, face lumberjacks if the wrestler is a heel, and vice versa) swarm the wrestlers if they leave the ring and force them back in it. Occasional interference from the lumberjacks is not uncommon, nor is an all-out brawl on the outside involving most of the lumberjacks. Early lumberjack matches even featured the lumberjacks wearing stereotypical lumberjack clothing in keeping with the lumberjack theme, though this is generally no longer done.
Variation of this match include the "Canadian" Lumberjack match, in which the lumberjacks are equipped with leather straps, the "Extreme" Lumberjack match, competed under Extreme Rules, and the TNA's "Fan's Revenge" Lumberjack match, during which fans equipped with straps act as lumberjacks and are encouraged to whip wrestlers.
Tag rules
Main article: Tag team
A tag team match in progress - Jeff Hardy kicks Umaga, while their respective partners, Triple H and Randy Orton, encourage them and reach for the tags.
In some team matches, only one entrant from each team may be designated as the "legal" or "active" wrestler at any given moment. Two wrestlers must make physical contact (typically palm-to-palm) in order to transfer this legal status. This is known as a tag, with the participants tagging out and tagging in.
The non-legal wrestlers must remain outside the ring or other legal area at all times (and avoid purposeful contact with the opposing wrestlers) or face reprimand from the referee. In most promotions, the wrestler to be tagged in must be touching the turnbuckle on his corner, or a cloth strap attached to the turnbuckle.
Some multi-wrestler matches allow for a set number of legal wrestlers, and a legal wrestler may tag out to any other wrestler, regardless of team. In these matches, the tag need not be a mutual effort, and this results in active wrestlers being tagged out against their will.
In a Texas Tornado Tag Team match, all the competitors are legal in the match, and tagging in and out is not necessary.
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