10 Times Stipulations Ruined Wrestling Matches
7. Dean Ambrose Vs. Chris Jericho - WWE Extreme Rules 2016 (Ambrose Asylum)
Red flags were raised immediately when Dean Ambrose announced that he would battle Chris Jericho in an Ambrose Asylum match at Extreme Rules 2016. Not only had he beaten Jericho decisively at Payback, rendering a rematch utterly pointless, but the bespoke gimmick match has a dreadful history.
The Punjabi Prison, Quebecer's Rules - even the Undertaker's mercifully discontinued go-to casket match were interminable, one-note affairs with one predictable dramatic through line. The Ambrose Asylum, it transpired, was no different. Weapons were strung atop the cage - one of which was a mop, ruining any scope for a serious tone. This rendered the finish - Chris Jericho falling on a smattering of legit safety pins - pointless. It was hardly worth the real pain, given that the match was inherently dull and played for nominal laughs.
What's galling about the match - other than the experience of yawning through it - is that it could have been successful, with one easy tweak. If Jericho and Ambrose were enclosed by the Hell In A Cell, and not a regular cage, there'd have been no requirement to trudge up the mesh ad nauseam.
A lesson in anti-suspense, it's not likely to be repeated. Then again, people said that about the Reverse Battle Royal.