10 Wrestling Gimmick Matches That Only Happened Once

Gimmick matches often feature an elaborate structure that engulfs the entire ring, or at the very least a usually-not-seen weapon hanging from one of its turnbuckles. The Duchess of Queensbury Rules match, however, relies principally on comedy.

We got our first (and, to date, only) glimpse of this format at Backlash in 2001, where William Regal and Chris Jericho - two of the out-and-out funniest men ever to lace up a pair of wrestling boots - tussled under the watchful eye of, you guessed it: The Duchess of Queensbury.

The brilliance of this match was that she was the only one in the arena who knew the rules. When Y2J went for a pin, she informed him the round had expired; when he went for a submission hold, she told him tap outs didn't count.

It wasn't a technical masterclass, obviously, but it brought a sense of fun to a match that may otherwise have gone the way of all the other forgettable mid-card bouts of the Attitude Era. It's exactly the kind of thing that they should do more of (of course, in moderation) today.