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The basic premise of pro-wrestling has always been two wrestlers going at it in the middle of the ring to determine who's the best between the duo. To spice things up, wrestling promotions, including WWE, have always come up with creative ideas to garner audience interest.
Over the course of the past few decades, we have seen a bunch of gimmick matches being introduced. These matches are instrumental in making feuds seem more important and the stakes are raised higher in many cases by adding a gimmick.
The Ladder match and Hell In A Cell are two gimmick bouts that have stood the test of time and are still incredibly popular among the fans. Not all gimmick matches shared the same fate though. Let's take a look at five gimmick matches from the past that WWE should bring back.
#5 Stretcher match
It has been six years since we saw the last Stretcher match in WWE. The match type became quite popular back in the 2000s and several top rivalries culminated in Stretcher matches. The match doesn't have pinfalls, submissions, count-outs, or DQ. The only way a Superstar can win the match is by placing his opponent on a stretcher which will be situated outside the ring. Then, the Superstar will carry the stretcher towards the entrance ramp until a line is crossed.
Brock Lesnar got incredibly creative during his Stretcher match with Big Show at Judgment Day 2003. Realizing that there was no way he could carry the giant on a stretcher and cross the line on his own, he brought out a forklift.
He placed The Big Show on the forklift and drove it back beyond the yellow line to win the match and retain his WWE title. The last time a Stretcher match took place was on WWE RAW in 2014, which saw John Cena defeating Kane to advance to a World title Ladder match.
#4 Texas Bullrope match
Back in 2004, JBL had turned heel after WrestleMania 20 and kicked off a feud with Eddie Guerrero over the WWE title. JBL failed to win the belt at Judgment Day 2004, and this prompted him to introduce a gimmick match that many hadn't heard of in a long time: the Texas Bullrope match.
The self-proclaimed Wrestling God defeated Guerrero in the match at The Great American Bash 2004, winning his first and only WWE title in the process. Around a year later, when Batista was World Champion on SmackDown, he successfully defended the belt against JBL on a special episode of the Blue brand.
The match requires both Superstars to be restrained with a single rope. The rope also has a cowbell attached to it. The objective of the match is to touch all the four top turnbuckles in successive attempts. The Superstar who manages to do so wins the match. The match, during its short run in WWE, gave us some incredibly disturbing moments, with JBL getting busted open both times he was part of the match.
#3 Casket match
This match is synonymous with WWE legend The Undertaker. Back in 1992, the Casket match was introduced and The Undertaker defeated Kamala in the first Casket match at Survivor Series 1992. Almost two dozen Casket matches have taken place so far, with The Phenom being featured in most of those. The rules of the contest are simple: a wrestler needs to place his opponent inside the Casket and close it to register a victory.
At Survivor Series 2008, The Undertaker defeated Big Show in a Casket match, and it would be a full decade before The Deadman was featured in this match again. At WWE's Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018, The Undertaker defeated Rusev in just under 10 minutes in a Casket match.
With The Undertaker not being that active anymore, it's understandable as to why we haven't seen the match in recent years. Nevertheless, WWE can bring back the gimmick as current Superstars like The Fiend and Aleister Black seem to have personalities that are synonymous with the match type.
#2 Championship Scramble match
One thing that the rich and storied history of WWE has proved is that multi-man spectacles always sell tickets. There's just something exciting about several Superstars brawling inside the squared circle to secure a title belt. Matches like Elimination Chamber and Money In The Bank have proved this on several occasions.
Back in the late 2000s, the Championship Scramble match made its debut at Unforgiven 2008. The PPV saw all the three top titles (the WWE title, the WWE World Heavyweight title, and the ECW title) being defended in Championship Scramble matches. Matt Hardy, Triple H, and Chris Jericho won their respective Scramble matches, leaving with the gold on their shoulders.
The match features five Superstars and starts off with two of the bunch. After every five minutes, a Superstar enters the match. After all wrestlers have entered, any pin or submission results in an interim title reign. Five minutes after the final wrestler has entered the match, the Superstar to score a pinfall or submission wins the bout.
#1 Parking Lot Brawl
Who doesn't love an old-school brawl that simply can't be contained in the ring? WWE has presented a wide variety of gimmick matches in the past that allows wrestlers to take the action outside the ring. Hardcore matches, Falls Count Anywhere matches, and No Holds Barred matches are just a few examples of bouts that wow the fans because of the unlimited possibilities.
WWE introduced the Parking Lot Brawl a long time ago. Back when John Cena was yet to bag his first WWE title and was a strong mid-carder on WWE SmackDown, he feuded with Eddie Guerrero for a while and it led to a Parking Lot Brawl between the two. The match ended with Guerrero picking up the win. Years later, Cena engaged in a Parking Lot Brawl with arch-rival JBL at The Great American Bash 2008, with Cena again tasting defeat.
These matches can get pretty chaotic, and would work very well now that WWE is having shows without an audience, for the time being.
