Ladder match
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A ladder match is a type of match used in professional wrestling that is most commonly used to describe a match where an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself inevitably becomes a key feature of the match. Specifically, the wrestlers will use the ladder as a weapon to strike the opponent(s), as a launching pad for acrobatic attacks, and frequently these matches include impressive falls from the top of the ladder.
As mentioned above, Ladder Matches typically end when the item suspended above the ring is retrieved. However if a weapon is placed there, the match may proceed to a second phase in which the weapon may be used by the wrestler who obtained it and the match ends when one wrestler is able to pin the other. In team matches, this privilege is typically extended to the other members of the team. There are two notable forms of this particular type of Ladder Match. The first is Extreme Championship Wrestling's "Stairway to Hell" match, in which the item hung above the ring was a roll of barbed wire(on other occasions a kendo stick). The second form took place in World Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s where the weapon hung above the ring was a stun-gun.
Ladder Matches are often used as a finale to storylines, and as such, it is more common to have symbolic briefcases (usually "containing" a contract for a future championship match) or championships belts hung above the ring rather than weapons.
Because of the relatively extreme flow of the match, ladder matches are often fought under no disqualification rules, encouraging the use of ladders along with other weapons as opposed to the sole exception to the ban on foreign objects. As a result, some consider ladder matches in particular as spotfests, where wrestlers continue to take death-defying bumps for the entertainment of the audience, without regard to their own health and safety. Similarly, ladder matches have been frowned upon by promoters because of the easy ability to injure their wrestlers as a result of errant stunts.
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[edit] Origins
Contrary to common opinion, the first ever Ladder Match was not the WrestleMania X classic between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, nor was the Ladder Match even a product of World Wrestling Entertainment. The Ladder Match was invented by Dan Kroffat of the Stampede Wrestling organization out of Canada. In September of 1972, Kroffat fought Tor Kamata in the first Ladder Match, where the object above the ring was a bag of money. Kroffat won the match and tossed some of the money into the crowd.
In July of 1983, Stampede Wrestling held another Ladder Match where, again, the object was to retrieve a bag of money. This time, Bret Hart faced off against Bad News Allen (more commonly known as Bad News Brown). This match is noteworthy because Hart went on to join the WWF and suggested this type of match to promoter Vince McMahon. McMahon took Hart's suggestion and scheduled a Ladder Match between Hart and Shawn Michaels for the WWF Intercontinental Championship on July 21, 1992. Less than two years later, the Ladder Match seemed like a perfect choice for the WrestleMania X contest between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels. Their match was of such high quality that the concept of the Ladder Match caught on and has been used very widely ever since.
[edit] Ladder Matches in World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
| No. | Match | Event, Date and Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Bret Hart defeated Shawn Michaels to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship |
House Show July 21, 1992 |
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| II | Razor Ramon defeated Shawn Michaels to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship |
WrestleMania X March 20, 1994, New York, New York |
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| III | Jeff Jarrett defeated Razor Ramon to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship |
WWF Monday Night RAW June 5, 1995, Stuthers, Ohio |
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| IV | Shawn Michaels defeated Razor Ramon to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship |
SummerSlam August 27, 1995, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
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| V | Triple H defeated The Rock to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship |
SummerSlam August 30, 1998, New York, New York |
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| VI | The Big Bossman defeated Mankind to win the WWF Hardcore Championship |
WWF Raw is War November 30, 1998, Baltimore, Maryland |
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| VII | The Rock defeated Mankind to win the WWF Championship |
WWF RAW is WAR February 15, 1999, Birmingham, Alabama |
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| VIII | Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon defeated Steve Austin to gain the 100% WWF ownership |
King of the Ring June 27, 1999, Greensboro, North Carolina |
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| IX | The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) defeated Edge and Christian in the final of Terri Invitational Tournament to win the managerial services of Terri Runnels |
No Mercy October 17, 1999, Cleveland, Ohio |
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| X | Edge and Christian defeated The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship |
WrestleMania 2000 April 2, 2000, Anaheim, California |
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| XI | The Hardy Boyz defeated Edge and Christian to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship |
WWF RAW is WAR September 25, 2000, State College, Pennsylvania |
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| XII | Chris Jericho defeated Chris Benoit to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship |
Royal Rumble January 21, 2001, New Orleans, Louisiana |
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| XIII | Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit to regain possesion of his gold medal in the 3rd fall of a 2 out of 3 falls match |
Judgement Day May 20, 2001, Sacramento, California |
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| XIV | Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy to win the WWF Hardcore Championship |
SummerSlam August 19, 2001, San Jose, California |
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| XV | Edge defeated Christian to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship |
No Mercy October 21, 2001, St. Louis, Missouri |
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| XVI | Rob Van Dam defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship |
WWE RAW May 27, 2002, Edmonton, Alberta |
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| XVII | The Undertaker defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Undisputed Championship |
WWE RAW July 1, 2002, Manchester, New Hampshire |
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| XVIII | Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy to unify the WWE Intercontinental Championship and the WWE European Championship |
WWE RAW July 22, 2002, Grand Rapids, Michigan |
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| XIX | Triple H defeated Shawn Micheals to win the World Heavyweight Championship in the 3rd fall of the 3 stages of hell match |
WWE Armageddon December 15, 2002, Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
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| XX | Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri defeated Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship |
Judgment Day May 18, 2003, Charlotte, North Carolina |
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| XXI | Rob Van Dam defeated Christian to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship |
WWE RAW September 29, 2003, Chicago, Illinois |
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| XXII | Chris Jericho defeated Christian to win the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship |
Unforgiven September 12, 2004, Portland, Oregon |
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| XXIII | Kurt Angle defeated Mike Haywood to retain the Kurt Angle 1996 Olympic's Gold Medals |
WWE Smackdown March 8, 2005, Roanoke, Virginia |
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| XXIV | Rey Mysterio defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the custody of Dominick |
SummerSlam August 21, 2005, Washington, D.C. |
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| XXV | Edge defeated Matt Hardy (Loser Leaves RAW Money in the Bank ladder match) |
WWE Homecoming October 3, 2005, Dallas, Texas |
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| XXVI | Sabu defeated Rob Van Dam to become the No. 1 Contender of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship |
ECW on Sci-Fi August 15, 2006, Washington, D.C. |
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| XXVII | Rob Van Dam defeated The Big Show to retain a championship match right for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship |
ECW on Sci-Fi October 24, 2006, St. Louis, Missouri. |
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| XXVIII | Jeff Hardy defeated Johnny Nitro to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship |
WWE RAW November 20, 2006, Baltimore, Maryland |
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| XXVIIII | Paul London and Brian Kendrick defeated William Regal and Dave Taylor, MNM and The Hardys to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship | Armageddon December 17, 2006, Richmond, Virginia |
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[edit] Ladder Matches in World Championship Wrestling
| No. | Match | Event, Date and Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Eddie Guerrero defeated Syxx to retain the WCW United States Championship |
Souled Out January 25, 1997, Cedar Rapids, Iowa |
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| II | Bill Goldberg defeated Scott Hall (Tazer match) | Souled Out January 17, 1999, Charleston, West Virginia |
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| III | Bam Bam Bigelow fought Scott Hall to the no-contest (Stun gun match) |
WCW Monday Nitro January 25, 1999, Dallas, Texas |
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| IV | Scott Hall defeated Bret Hart, Bill Goldberg and Sid Vicious to win the WCW United States Championship |
WCW Monday Nitro November 8, 1999, Indianapolis, Indiana |
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| V | Chris Benoit defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the WCW United States Championship |
Starrcade December 19, 1999, Washington, D.C. |
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| VI | Jeff Jarrett defeated Chris Benoit to win the WCW United States Championship |
WCW Monday Nitro December 20, 1999, Baltimore, Maryland |
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| VII | The Jung Dragons (Jamie-San, Kaz Hayashi and Yun Yang) defeated 3 Count (Shane Helms, Shannon Moore and Evan Karagias) |
WCW Nitro July 18, 2000, Auburn Hills, Michigan |
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| VIII | 3 Count defeated The Jung Dragons | New Blood Rising August 13, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia |
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| IX | Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated The Boogie Knights (Alex Wright and Disco Inferno) |
WCW Monday Nitro October 2, 2000, San Francisco, California |
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| X | 3 Count (Shane Helms and Shannon Moore) defeated The Jung Dragons (Yun Yang and Kaz Hayashi) (w/Leia Meow) and Jamie Knoble and Evan Karagias to became the Co-No.1 Contender of WCW Cruiserweight Championship. |
StarrCade December 17, 2000, Washington, D.C. |
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[edit] Ladder matches elsewhere
| Federation | Match | Event, Date and Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoky Mountain Wrestling | Tracy Smothers defeated Chris Candido | Blue Grass Brawl 2 , April 1 , 1994 , location unknown | ||
| Stampede Wrestling | Dan Kroffat defeated Tor Kamata | House Show , September , 1972 , Calgary 1 st ever ladder match in history of wrestling. |
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| Stampede Wrestling | Bret Hart defeated Bad News Brown | House Show , July , 1983 , Calgary | ||
[edit] Other variations
- King of the Mountain match - Used in TNA; essentially a ladder match in reverse, the winner (referred to as the "King of the Mountain") is the first person to attach the object specificed beforehand (usually a championship belt) to the wire above the ring.
- Money in the Bank ladder match - Used in WWE; this match sees any number of men (usually 6 or 8) compete in a ladder match for a suspended briefcase which holds a contract that entitles the holder to a World Heavyweight Championship, WWE Championship, or ECW Championship match at any time in the subsequent calendar year up to, and including, the next WrestleMania. The match was first held at WrestleMania 21, and was won by Edge. It was held again at WrestleMania 22, where it was won by Rob Van Dam, and is now an annual staple of the event.
- Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match - Variation of the ladder match where tables and chairs are also permitted (and their use is encouraged). Referred to at times simply as TLC matches.
