Professional wrestling match types

One fall

The standard wrestling match. All normal rules apply.

Best Two out of Three falls

To win you must score two falls on your opponent before he can score two on you. Sometimes each of the falls is fought under different stipulations, such as one straight wrestling fall, one submissions only fall and one no disqualification fall.

Tag team match

A match in which two teams of wrestlers face each other. Only one wrestler from each team is allowed in the ring at a time. The other(s) wait on the apron outside the ropes. Interference from a team member will not end the match in a disqualification. That wrestler will be escorted back to his/her corner.

Elimination Tag Team match

This is a tag team match except that the wrestler suffering the loss of a fall is eliminated from participation. The match continues until all members of one team are eliminated.

Cage match

This match takes place inside a 15' steel cage with an open top. There are two types of cage matches. The traditional cage match, known as a shark cage match, is won by being the first wrestler to escape the cage and have both feet touch the floor. The other variation is basically a One fall match inside a cage. Sometimes a cage match incorporates both escape and falls, permitting either to end the match.

Street fight

This match cannot end in a disqualification. All other normal rules apply.

Hardcore match

Same as a street fight, except that pin falls count anywhere.

Triple threat match

This is a one fall match where three wrestlers fight instead of two. The winner of this match is the first wrestler to get a pin fall or submission. What happens in the case of a disqualification is not clear (I've never seen it happen).

Triangle match

A three way one fall tag match wherein the one of the competitors must remain outside the ring to await a tag from one of the other combatants before replacing him in the ring. Being tagged out is a serious disadvantage as you cannot win from this position.

Three Way Dance

Another three way match, this time with the loser of a fall being eliminated from competition. The last wrestler remaining is victorious.

Fatal four way

Same as a triple threat match, but with four wrestlers instead of three.

Ladder match

This is almost always a championship match. The championship belt hangs over the ring. Ths winner of this match is the wrestler who climbs the ladder and takes the belt. A ladder match may also be fought over a specific item such as a briefcase, contract, etc.

Table match

The winner of this match is the first man to drive his opponent through a table. It varies from match to match as to whether a wrestler going through the table under his own power constitutes a fall or not.

Hell in a Cell match

This is essentially a one fall match inside a steel cage with a top. This cage is larger than a traditional cage in that it also contains the immediate floor around the ring. Even though the main hook in this match is that there's "no possible way to escape the cage", in practice, the action always ends up being taken out, and it is very common to see wrestlers fighting on top of this steel structure.

Indian Strap/Chain match

This match is a no disqualification match between two men that are connected together by a 20 foot leather strap or chain. The first person to tag all four corners of the ring without offensive contact from the opponent is the winner. Another variation is a one fall match while connected by the strap or chain. Called a Dog Collar Match if the combatants are chained at the neck instead of the wrist.

Scaffold match

This match takes place on a scaffold that is 20 feet above the ring. The two ways to win the match are to push the opponent off of the scaffold and he/she hits the mat or to grab the flag from the opponent's home base of the scaffold and return it to the other home base.

First blood match

This match is a no disqualification match. The only way to win is draw first blood from the opponent.

Iron man match

This match is a contest with a fixed time limit and the wrestler with the most amount of pinfalls, submissions, opponent disqualifications, and opponent countouts is the winner.

Casket Match

The winner of this match is the fisrt wrestler to put his/her opponent into a closed casket.

Battle Royal

The winner of this match is the last person in the ring after all other wrestlers have been thrown over the top rope.

Last Man Standing

A no disqualification, no countout match with no pinfalls. Whenever a wrestler is knocked down, they must regain their feet within a ten count or they will lose the match.

Death Match

Similar to a Last Man Standing match, this match is fought under one fall rules, but the loser of the fall is administered a ten count. If they are able to answer the count, the match continues.

Submission Match

A one fall match in which victory can only come as a result of a submission.

Pinfalls Only Match

A one fall match in which victory can only come as a result of a pin.

X on a Pole Match

Some object, either desired by both parties in the match or possibly a weapon of some kind, is place at the end of a pole. Depending on the circumstances the match will end when the object is successfully retrieved by one of the combatants, or if it is a weapon, when it is successfully used by one of the combatants on the other. Alternately the match is fought under one fall rules with the object on the pole considered a legal foreign object. It may be used as a weapon by the wrestler who retrieves it.

Flag Match

Each team has a flag that they must retrieve and one that they must defend. They must get their flag from the opponents' corner before the opponents can get their flag.

Extreme variants

Taipei Death Match

The wrestlers fists are wrapped in tape, dipped in glue, then dipped in glass. The Glass-Glued fists can be used in any manner, including low blows, blows to the face.

Barb Wire Bat 10,000 Thumbtack Match

A solid baseball bat with the end wrapped in barb wire hangs off a pole in a corner of the ring as a box filled with 10,000 thumbtacks lays at ringside. The only way to win is to put your opponent in the box of 10,000 Thumbtacks and to make the pin. The bat is just to make the match a little more brutal than it already is.

Explosion Match

Usually accompanied with barb wire ropes, a large barb wire wrapped explosion board is placed in the ring laced with a small amount of C4[?]. The loser is the man that is blown up.

Beds of Weapons

It is an anything goes match that has beds of thumbtacks, nails, barb wire, glass, and/or lightbulbs. Up to three of these can be involved in the match. These matches usually occur in Deathmatch Title matches or Deathmatches in general.

Brimstone Match

A match where the only way to win is to throw your oppenent in burning hot coals laid on the floor next to the ring.

Rage in a Cage

A cage that looks alot like a oval and it's where you can settle old score and can be used for a tag team or single match you pin to win.