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The recent WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view featured a total of 12 matches and five different match types, ranging from The New Day vs. SAnitY in a tables match to Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens inside a steel cage.
Throughout the years, several match types have come and gone in WWE, with over 100 different stipulations being used by the company to add extra significance to storylines.
Ever since WrestleMania 33 last year, it feels like WWE has given fans more match types than ever before, largely due to the stipulation-heavy PPV schedule that we’ve become accustomed to seeing in recent years.
However, while some special stipulation matches are guaranteed to stick around for a very long time, such as Hell In A Cell and ladder matches, there are others that are less likely to be brought back in a hurry.
In this article, let’s take a look at five match types that we might never see in WWE again.
Disclaimer: There are several matches involving WWE’s women that will obviously never return. We decided to leave them out of this list because there are far too many to mention individually.
#5 Punjabi Prison match
The third Punjabi Prison match in WWE history, Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton, took place at Battleground 2017, and it confirmed what everybody already knew: the concept has never worked and it probably never will.
The match stipulates that a competitor must escape two bamboo cages to claim the victory. The catch? The first structure has four doors, with each door staying open for a one-minute time period when a referee is instructed to open it. If somebody fails to escape any of the four doors, they must climb over the inner structure before climbing over the outer structure to win.
Sound complicated? It is, and that’s why all three Punjabi Prison matches (The Undertaker vs. The Big Show at Great American Bash 2006, Batista vs. The Great Khali at No Mercy 2007, and Mahal vs. Orton last year) were among the worst matches on every card they were on.
Granted that certain elements of the Punjabi Prison match are akin to that of the Hell In A Cell of Steel Cage matchups, however, the Punjabi Prison's prop and overall depiction to the live audience as well as fans watching on their digital devices, isn't of the highest viewing quality.
Although most of us love The Great Khali and his undeniable quirkiness, the Punjabi Prison match in which he's been a feature attraction of the years, isn't likely to return anytime soon.
#4 Kendo stick-on-a-pole match
The one and only Kendo stick-on-a-pole match in WWE history, contested by Alexa Bliss and Bayley at Extreme Rules 2017, is widely considered one of the worst matches in the Women’s Evolution era.
The story of the match was all about Bayley and her refusal to hurt her opponent with a weapon, despite the fact that she was the one who pulled the Kendo stick down from the top of the pole.
In the end, Alexa used the weapon on “The Hugger” and picked up the victory inside just five minutes after a snap DDT to retain the Raw Women's Championship.
This match was the beginning of Bayley’s fall down the card and it wasn’t long after this that the usual cheers that greeted her entrance turned into silence.
#3 First Blood match
A total of nine First Blood matches have taken place in WWE history, starting with Kane vs. Steve Austin at King of the Ring 1998 and ending with John Cena vs. JBL at One Night Stand 2008.
Unlike some of the other match types on this list, the First Blood concept wasn’t necessarily bad, but the fact that WWE has been rated PG since 2008 means the match is unlikely to return to our screens any time soon.
Even if a WWE Superstar accidentally draws blood during a match, the referee quickly puts on gloves and tries to cover it up as soon as possible, so the chances of WWE basing an entire match around blood ever again are slim-to-none.
#2 Flag match
Admittedly, this suggestion is more in hope than expectation, but is there a more pointless match type in modern-day WWE than the Flag match?
In the 1980s, the concept made sense when villainous anti-Americans like Ivan Koloff and Nikolai Volkoff were facing some of the biggest babyfaces in the industry after making derogatory remarks about their country, but the match type is outdated now and isn't needed in 2018.
The most recent match of its kind took place between Rusev and John Cena at Battleground 2017. Not only was the 21-minute match slow and tedious, but Rusev’s anti-America gimmick was way past its prime and he was just a few months away from being the most popular good guy on the roster!
#1 Iron Man match
Sixteen Iron Man matches have taken place in WWE history, with the first being contested between Ric Flair and Bret Hart at a live event in 1993, but none caused more controversy than the recent 30-minute encounter between Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules.
With the clock ticking down from 30 minutes to 0 minutes on the big screen, the crowd loudly counted from 10 seconds to 1 second during every minute of the match. WWE took the clock away from the screen to stop the audience from ruining the main event, but it only caused the fans to boo and hijack the rest of the show.
Simply put, it was an absolute shambles and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Iron Man concept disappeared completely, or at least for a very long time.
