WWE has used a wide variety of gimmick matches throughout company history. Several were large successes with some like Hell in a Cell and Money In The Bank becoming annual events featuring matches of the namesake. Years before the themed events, gimmick matches were sporadically booked to enhance a rivalry.
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Not every gimmick idea was a homerun, with some only being used once, while others were given a few tries but would ultimately be phased out of creative existence. WCW may have been the king promotion of the gimmick match, but WWE has a long history of uniquely created matches.
9 Gulf of Mexico Match
WWE attempts to get a hometown pop by adding the city's name before the gimmick match (i.e. a New York Street Fight). While running the ECW brand, on the February 5, 2008, show which was held in Corpus Christi, Texas. The main event for the show was a match between ECW World Heavyweight Champion Chavo Guerrero and CM Punk.
The contest was non-title but was the first, and to date the only, Gulf of Mexico match. Starting off in the ring, the match ended when one wrestler threw the other into the Gulf of Mexico. Although the live crowd would have to watch on the titantron eventually, they enjoyed seeing Punk connect with a GTS to legitimately send Chavo into the Gulf of Mexico.
8 Lights Out Match
Lights Out match has evolved over time. Originally, the Lights Out match was held after the scheduled card as it was, in storyline, not appropriate and the promotion could not sanction it. Following all "sanctioned" matches, the arena lights would go out for a brief moment and then the entrances would occur.
In modern times, AEW has revived the match but has kept it on the alloted time slot; the match result is just not counted towards the wrestler's overall record. WWE gave the match concept a try on the August 16, 2001, SmackDown in the main event between Booker T and The Rock which essentially was a match with no rules. WWE mishandled it as it ended in a no-contest in around 4 minutes.
7 Jailhouse Match
For some, it is a fear to go to jail and/or prison. The fate was bestowed upon the fate of one WWE wrestler in the summer of 1991 and in fact, it occurred as the result of a match. This was the stipulation at that year's SummerSlam in the match between The Big Boss Man and The Mountie.
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A Boss Man Slam followed by an Alabama Slam did the job for Boss Man as he scored the pinfall in the first and only Jailhouse match and as a result The Mountie was off the jail for a night. Mountie was escorted out of the arena via "police cruiser" to a jailhouse where he served the sentence.
6 Iron Circle Match / Parking Lot Brawl
In drama/action movies and TV series, there are numerous suspensful fight scenes in which two people are surrounded in a circular formation and brawl. This concept was adapeted by WWE and used a few times with the first being at Fully Loaded 1999 with the Iron Circle match. Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman fought in a parking lot surrounded by cars for a brawl with no rules; in that contest Shamrock rock by submission.
Eddie Guerrero and John Cena competed in a Latino Heat Parking Lot Brawl on a SmackDown in September 2003 which was the same concept as the Iron Circle match with a different name; Guerrero won by pinfall following a Frog Splash from one vehicle to another. John Cena and JBL clashed in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Bash in 2008 with JBL winning. For notable mention, Roddy Piper's infamous win over Goldust in the Hollywood Backlot Brawl at WrestleMania 12.
5 Three Stages of Hell
Used 4 times on the main roster and once in NXT, the Three Stages of Hell match was a nightmare physically but as a fan was a fantastic spectable. The match was best 2-out-of-3 falls with each fall being a different match type that seemingly featured a more grueling match as the stages progressed. Triple H won the first one over Steve Austin at No Way Out 2001 (standard singles-Street Fight-Cage match). Triple H won again against Shawn Michaels at Armageddon 2002 (Street Fight-Steel Cage-Ladder match) to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
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Randy Orton would defeat Triple H at The Bash in 2009 (standard singles-Falls Count Anywhere match-Stretcher match) to retain the WWE Championship. John Cena defeated Ryback at Payback in 2013 (Lumberjack match-Tables match-Ambulance match) to retain the WWE Championship. In NXT, Adam Cole defeated Johnny Gargano at TakeOver: Toronto in 2019 in a 2-out-of-3 falls match that was formatted the same way (standard singles-Street Fight-Barbed Wire Steel Cage match) to retain the NXT Championship.
4 Stretcher Match
The aforementioned Stretch Match between Triple H and Randy Orton was part of a 3-stage match but on 8 standalone occasions WWE held a Stretcher match. The fight ended when one of the wrestlers placed their opponent on a stretcher and got them across a designated checkpoint. The first took place in November 1981 between Andre The Giant and Killer Khan in a Mongolian Stretcher match which was won by Andre.
Brock Lesnar would defeat The BIg Show at Judgment Day 2003 to retain the WWE Championship. Edge defeated Kane on Raw in July 2005. RVD defeated Randy Orton at One Night Stand 2007. Rey Mysterio defeated Finlay at Cyber Sunday 2007. Batista defeated Shawn Michaels at One Night Stand 2008. Matt Hardy defeated his brother Jeff on SmackDown in April 2009. John Cena would defeat Kane on Raw in June 2014.
3 Texas Bullrope Match
The Texas Bullrope match was used very few times in WWE. To really do a deep dive, the match's roots go back decades when the contest was held in August 1978 between "Superstar" Billy Graham and Dusty Rhodes. The wrestlers would be tied at the wrist by a rope and for good measure there was a cowbell at the middle of the rope; Rhodes won the first match by count-out.
The match was revived at the 2004 Great American Bash between Eddie Guerrero and JBL with a new stipulation that to win the match a wrestler had to touch all 4 corners in succession; JBL won that match and the WWE Championship as a result. Dusty Rhodes would compete in another Texas Bullrope match at The Great American Bash in 2007 against Randy Orton but Orton would get the win by pinfall.
2 First Blood Match
The First Blood match is a barbaric concept that sees the match end when one of the wrestlers bleeds proportionately; a small cut would be insufficient. 10 times did WWE book the match with the first being between Kane and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at King of the Ring 1998 for the WWE Championship where Kane won.
Throughout the years, Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, X-Pac, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Mr. Kennedy, Triple H, and John Cena were all winners of First Blood matches with the latter winning the last one to date, occurring at The Bash in 2008 against JBL which was the last PPV before WWE went to PG.
1 Championship Scramble Match
WWE attempted the Championship Scramble match in the late 2000s on 4 occasions. The match would would have an overall time limit and start with 2 wrestlers in the ring. Every few minutes, another wrestler would enter the match until all participants entered; similar to a Royal Rumble match. Instead of eliminations, an interim/placeholder champion was crowned during the match by pinfall or submission but the person who was the interim champion at the end of the time limit would leave as champion.
The match was introduced at Unforgiven 2008 3 times; Matt Hardy won the first to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, Triple H won the second to retain the WWE Championship, and Chris Jericho won the third to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The match returned at The Bash in 2009 where Tommy Dreamer retained his ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
