In the beginning there was a match. Two wrestlers entered the ring and fought until one pinned the other and won. Then, that changed. Submissions were added. DQ's, count outs; as the business of professional wrestling grew, so did the differing rules. By the time the territories were in full-swing in the 1960s, tag-team matches, handicap matches, and even scarce triple threat matches could be found bolstering the cards as featured attraction main events. Competition grew. Therefore creativity grew. Promoters began looking for new and interesting ways to mould the rules of the professional wrestling match into attractions for the market of fans. 2-Out-Of-3 Falls, No disqualifications; eventually 'prop' matches such as ladders or stretchers and 'environment' matches such as cages and modified rings. The competition within pro-wrestling meant fresh and interesting match types were a commodity. Particularly during the Attitude Era, the initiative to push the envelope to outdo the opposition led to the companies developing matches that were recklessly dangerous- placing the well-being of the wrestlers at genuine risk. The long list of tragedies that have occurred in pro-wrestling- especially the Chris Benoit affair- and WWE's modern day monopoly on the business has led to gimmick matches being drastically passivated in recent times. Wrestlers' health has become a primary concern with strict physical testing and thankfully so. This is because in WWE's times gone by, their talent put their bodies through tremendous risk in dangerous matches for ratings and publicity. This article looks at those matches, the ten gimmick matches that carried the truest genuine risk. These are the ones that could've done permanent damage and sometimes did.