5 most successful gimmick matches in wrestling history

The amount of unsuccessful gimmick matches in wrestling history outnumbers the successful ones, considerably. For every entry into this article, there is an equally unsuccessfully gimmick match which came before it.

Triple decker cages, Kennels from Hell, and even Bra and Panties matches have found their way onto WWE programming much to the dismay of fans everywhere. The reason WWE tries so many new gimmick matches, however, is that when they hit on something fans love, they can go back to it for years to come.

Every gimmick match in this article started as an idea and grew into pro-wrestling tradition. Let's take a look at the five most successful gimmick matches in wrestling history.

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#5 The Steel Cage Match

It is believed by many that the first gimmick match in wrestling history was a steel cage match. The bout is thought to have taken place in 1937 and used chicken-wire wrapped around the ring in order to keep the wrestlers from exiting.

Earlier uses of steel cage matches were generally for the purposes of preventing the wrestlers from leaving the ring and others from entering it. It would be the match scheduled after a previous match in the rivalry was impacted by outside interference or one wrestler cowardly avoiding the other.

Nowadays steel cage matches are used a little differently. In general, WWE emphasizes how the cage can be used as a weapon more than they emphasize how it keeps others from entering the ring or the wrestlers involved from leaving.

#4 Hell in a Cell

The first ever Hell in a Cell match was contested between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels at Bad Blood 1997. The match was immediately a hit with fans.

Since 1997, 37 more matches in WWE have been contested inside the Hell in a Cell. Now every October it is the featured gimmick match on PPV. HIAC matches are also held outside this PPV as well, however.

The Undertaker holds the record with 14 HIAC matches, he has an 8-6 record in them. Triple H has won 6 matches inside the cell and lost 3. Batista, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens all have 2-0 records in HIAC matches and Shawn Michaels is 3-1. Poor Mick Foley has been involved in 4 HIAC matches and he's lost every single one of them.

#3 Money in the Bank

Much like the Hell in a Cell, Money in the Bank was a gimmick match which became so popular that WWE decided to create an entire PPV dedicated to it.

The first 6 MITB matches were held at WrestleMania before WWE debuted the Money in the Bank PPV in 2010. There have now been 20 such matches in WWE history.

CM Punk and Edge are the only two to successfully cash-in the briefcase twice, but Edge only ever won 1 MITB match. His 2nd cash-in occurred after he defeated Mr Kennedy for the briefcase Kennedy had won at WrestleMania 23.

The only male Superstar to win the MITB match twice is CM Punk, meanwhile, Carmella has won 2 of 2 MITB matches in Smackdown's women's division.

#2 WarGames

NXT brought back WarGames this weekend for the first time in nearly 20 years. The rules were significantly different, but the entertainment value of the match met the expectations of many.

When WarGames was first invented it was more than an annual occurrence. Dusty Rhodes would battle the 4 Horsemen regularly in WarGames all across the country to entertain huge crowds. The shows weren't always televised, however, so they could bring the same match from city to city. In total, 23 WarGames matches took place between 1987 and 1991, with the 4 Horseman losing the first 15 War Games matches ever.

The event would eventually become a more sporadic occurrence until WCW neglected to hold the match in 1999 and contested it within a triple decker cage in 2000.

#1 Royal Rumble

The most successful gimmick match in wrestling history is the Royal Rumble. Not only would the match earn its own PPV after just one year, it would become the signalling of the Road to WrestleMania on WWE's calendar every year.

The Royal Rumble plays a pivotal role in shaping the biggest match of the year, WrestleMania's main event. There is one Rumble a year and whoever wins goes on to challenge a champion in the main event.

The first Rumble match was broadcast live on free TV in 1988 and was won by Jim Duggan. Since then there have been 30 other Rumbles.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is the only man to have won the Rumble on three occasions and Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton have all won twice.