10 Massively Dubious Wrestling Records
5. The "First" Ladder Match
At WrestleMania X, the WWF presented what they billed as the first ever Ladder match, contested by Shawn Michaels and Razor Roman. It wasn't. It wasn't even the first Ladder match the WWF promoted.
The origins of the stipulation stretch back to Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling territory, which presented what is credited as the first ever iteration of the gimmick in 1972. The price dangling above the ring was a wad of cash. That was a more enviable prize than that offered by the old World Of Sport promotion: Kendo Nagasaki and Clive Myers risked injury and vertigo for the dubious honour of a gold coloured vinyl record. It was billed as a "Disco Ladder Match", but, bizarrely, classical music played in the background.
Bret Hart suggested this match type to Vince McMahon years later, who, despite living decades in the past, mercifully left WOS' gold-speckled ladder in the dustbin of crazy wrestling history.
Vince experimented with the approach in a 1992 Hart Vs. Michaels match released on the 1993 "Smack 'Em Whack 'Em" home video (suddenly, Crown Jewel seems much more palatable). It's a remarkable hidden gem of a bout - one kept hidden on March 20, 1994.