26 Unique WWE Matches Nobody Talks About

A stipulation match, by its very nature, is a solution to a bigger problem.

A feud either requires extra bells and whistles to help it over the line, or a special match where the original simply wouldn't do. In the modern age and in-part due to around 20 negligent years of WWE booking before Vince McMahon resigned in disgrace, the multi-match series became the rule rather than the exception, necessitating so many contests to to have more going on than they realistically ever needed.

This forced hands creatively, but also resulted in a number of matches that worked strictly as one-offs or rarities that were then shelved as programmes, wrestlers and even the organisation itself simply moved on. The death of the WWE Network brings into focus just how much of wrestling history could be lost, but many of the conversations around these classics and curios have already stopped taking place. Plenty of them never made it to a WrestleMania, or even a pay-per-view - two of the most likely carry-overs in the Netflix era. And even the ones that did haven't really been held up as achievements of substance and style, even if the experimentation was well worth it.

Such as...

26. Dungeon Match

The Dungeon Match is simultaneously a completely-of-the-time Attitude Era stipulation, a wrestling purist’s dream and a spectacle now literally impossible to replicate.

Taking place in the legendary Hart Family "Dungeon" basement, this match between Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock at Fully Loaded 1998 was steeped in authenticity despite the presence of just enough WWE production to make it viable. The basement’s low ceilings and unforgiving surfaces made it an atmospheric, gritty affair where submissions and jockeying for any dominance whatsoever was the central goal.

The one-off nature of the match meant that over time, it would serve to exist as a historical artefact than a concept with lasting appeal. Wrestling today thrives on larger-than-life spectacle, and the Dungeon Match’s intimate brutality feels like a relic of a bygone era, celebrated in retrospect but unlikely to return.

25. Lion’s Den Match

Borrowing from UFC’s surging popularity in the late 1990s, the Lion’s Den Match was WWE's spin that - like several on this list - required specific types of wrestlers to be involved in order to get and keep it over.

Set in a circular cage that left the wrestlers looking like trapped animals at the bottom of a fight pit, the contest gave the likes of Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Steve Blackman a showcase suited to their extra skillsets. Matches such as the SummerSlam 1998 Shamrock/Owen Hart maiden voyage for the gimmick added legitimacy with their MMA-inspired presentation.

Unfortunately, the stipulation's niche appeal and WWE’s eventual abandonment of these matches as the Attitude Era concluded ensured the Lion's Den remained a product of its time. The "Underground" battles in NXT have tried and failed to ape the grit.

24. Kennel from Hell Match

1999's Kennel from Hell Match is more infamous than iconic, despite the audacious scope of the concept.

A hybrid of a Steel Cage Match and Hell in a Cell, with "rabid" dogs patrolling the ring, this Unforgiven 1999 disaster saw Al Snow and Big Boss Man fail to overcome the match’s bizarre logistics. Uncooperative animals and a poorly paced stipulation turned it into a laughingstock rather than an innovation, though the legacy lives on as a so-bad-it's-good moment thanks to relentless hazing from Mick Foley and latterly Snow's celebrating of its flaws.

The disastrous execution will surely never be repeated, but more's the pity - a dog-free version that combines the two cages might have had stood a chance. Much like...

23. Punjabi Prison Match

The Punjabi Prison Match is an undeniable remarkable visual spectacle for pro wrestling, but that’s often where the praise ends.

First introduced at the Great American Bash 2006 and designed as a signature match for The Great Khali (even though he ended up failing a wellness test and missing the original), the dual-layered bamboo cages were meant to evoke an esoteric mix danger and tradition. Unfortunately, some convoluted double escape rules and obstructed sight-lines left fans in the building and watching at home confused and disengaged.

It's been revived sparingly as a result, most recently to try something - anything - to reheat Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton's WWE Championship rivalry in 2017. Khali was back in the frame for that too, but like the big man himself, it remains something of a niche idea with more potential and promise than what occurred in the actual presentation.

22. Inferno Match

The Inferno Match epitomised the Attitude Era’s obsession with shock, awe and the never-ending programmes featuring Kane and/or The Undertaker.

The pair were in the first two Inferno Matches in 1998 and 1999, with 'The Big Red Machine' seeing his arm and foot set fire to respectively in the process. The younger Brother Of Destruction was in the next (and, of writing, last) two too, not managing to win his "signature" stip until a 2006 victory over Montel Vontavious Porter.

It's an odd one to not really come up in conversation much anymore, considering how arresting the spectacle of a ring surrounded by flames actually is. However, impracticality and reliance on spectacle over substance might be the reason why, and has certainly limited its shelf life in these less hedonistic times. Add the genuine danger to performers (and fans!) and the challenge of booking believable-looking finishes, and perhaps it's best left on the back-burner.

21. Buried Alive Match

Yet another Undertaker staple that he's not got a particularly great record in, the Buried Alive Match remains iconic for the showbiz quality of the gravesites and using a consequences that sits within most people's darkest fears.

Speaking of darkest fears, Mankind constantly had the measure of 'The Deadman' in 1996, and though he lost the first encounter, he escaped his inevitable fate and gathered other heels to help him bury Undertaker ahead of the character getting a repackage. It was shrewd booking - the sight of wrestlers being covered in dirt lent an almost mythological quality to the stipulation and how much fans and the performers themselves should buy into it. This was crucial - when the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock worked matches with it in the years that followed, their credibility wasn't under threat for trying to avoid defeat.

Of a bygone age much like The Undertaker himself, the gimmick might only resurface when a character or story warrants it.

20. Blindfold Match

The Blindfold Match often prioritised comedy and chaos over technical skill, but demands immense working skill from the wrestlers to generate heat.

Leave it Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Rick Martel, then, who made the company's first ever on-screen iteration of it at WrestleMania VII such an overwhelming success story. Blinded in storylines, Roberts was at long last working on a level playing field, and put forth one of his last truly amazing babyface performances conducting a crowd with little more than well-timed points and gestures towards his opponent.

Understanding the assignment then, the audience that night set the tone for the rare future occurrences, and the gimmick tends not to have too much trouble getting the building going. However, the lack of athleticism and actual wrestling keeps the stipulation in the kitsch novelty column - something the market leader is alleged to have moved away from over the years.

19. Boiler Room Brawl

The original Boiler Room Brawl was a dark and dingy war that exemplified a tone WWE were - appropriately - fumbling around in the dark for back in 1996.

The SummerSlam bout was as much a vehicle to separate The Undertaker from Paul Bearer and give Mankind yet more credibility with yet another victory over the typically indestructible 'Deadman', but the action was so claustrophobic, dingy and atmospheric that most fans couldn't help feel sympathetic for both.

Years and a few hundreds of millions of dollars later, it was retooled for Backlash in 1999, and though there was more blood and the same level of violence, the contest actually suffered for how well-lit it was. Those in the building for the inaugural one might not have agreed, but the original really did benefit as much from the theatre of the mind as what could actually be seen.

18. Iron Circle Match

The 1999 Iron Circle Match, showcased a unique twist to the traditional parking lot brawl/street fight aesthetic.

It was at July's Fully Loaded where Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman battled in a parking lot surrounded by cars and wrestlers with headlights illuminating the chaos. While this setting provided a gritty atmosphere, the lack of in-ring action and the challenge of engaging a slightly bored live audience made it a one-and-done concept. Today, this stipulation is largely forgotten, overshadowed by more polished cinematic matches that were perfected and/or completely destroyed during the pandemic.

17. House of Horrors Match

A Payback 2017 showdown between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton remains one of WWE’s most divisive cinematic experiments, not least because it took place a full three years before the style was a necessity rather than a confused artistic choice.

Featuring a spooky, pre-recorded house segment followed by a live finish, it attempted to blur the line between horror and wrestling and largely failed at satisfying either side. Confusing execution and constant tonal inconsistency left fans baffled rather than thrilled, and once again the Bray Wyatt character looked in danger of another creative betrayal.

While cinematic matches have evolved since then, the House of Horrors is remembered more for its missteps than its partial innovation.

16. Crybaby Match

The In Your House 6 Crybaby Match between Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid ultimately had bigger ramifications than simply creating images of Sean Waltman sporting a nappy.

A "comedic" stipulation added humiliation as a stakes layer, creating a memorable - albeit absurd - gimmick. While fun in small doses, its reliance on Vince McMahon's juvenile humour made it a product of a very creatively confused time, and alienated the fans and wrestlers alike. As buzzed as Kliq pals Waltman and Scott Hall were to be working together, they both knew they could do much cooler thing

15. Tuxedo Match

In a Tuxedo Match, competitors win by stripping their opponent down to their underwear. It isn't missed.

Often reserved for comedy segments or non-wrestler brawls, this stipulation - dished out by WWE using the late great Howard Finkel on more than one occasion - provided lighthearted filler at best and no-joke comedy at worst.

Where would such a stipulation really sit in present day products though? There may be place for it in the right context or with specific characters, but so much of what made tuxedo matches "work" was the pantomime shame the heels appeared to suffer under the bright lights. That emotional resonance has changed and in the case of the major promotions, has been shifted off to the side completely to stop wrestlers having to portray it. It's difficult to imagine it returning any time soon, as it is anybody calling for its comeback.

14. First Blood Match

Launched and used multiple times by WWE at the height of the Attitude Era, the First Blood Match was an active impossibility for the majority of the intervening years.

Winning required making your opponent bleed, with Stone Cold Steve Austin at the centre of the first roll-outs to showcase the intensity and put the stipulation in front of the hottest crowds possible, but the gimmick stood in direct opposition to a no-blood policy that was in place within the company from the late-2000s onwards.

That stance has softened over the last couple of years, but at this point the company would probably rather seek forgiveness rather than permission as pertains to excessive claret. Outright promoting it ahead of time still feels like something market leader would rather avoid.

13. Hardcore Evening Gown Match

WWE couldn't do much wrong in mid-2000, but it nonetheless fumbled around in the creative dark until it found something.

This peculiar hybrid, infamously contested between Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco at that year's King Of The Ring combined Vince McMahon's yuk-yuk taste in comedy with nonsensical pro wrestling absurdity. The Stooges fought in evening gowns while using weapons, leaning heavily into the supposed comedy of the premise over the in-ring action.

While entertaining to some for its sheer ridiculousness, the stipulation thankfully feels too outlandish (and theoretically problematic, though it is WWE, so...) for today's modern and polished presentation.

12. Coal Miner’s Glove Match

A technicality and curio more than anything else, The Coal Miners Glove Match makes it in here by virtue of its continued place on the Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal prop that has a place on NXT's Halloween Havoc shows.

That it's there - even as a punchline - is tribute to the legacy it left.

The ostensibly dangerous stipulation was popular in some southern territories before a brief WCW run-out for the 1992 Havoc pay-per-viee bout between Jake Roberts and Sting. It's a loaded glove on a pole - no more, no less. And while its simplicity made it accessible once upon a time, the limited stakes and predictable format in the present day results in the match feeling more antiquated than some of the more elaborate set-ups available on the wheel.

11. Raw Bowl

Airing on the first Raw of 1996, the Raw Bowl Match paired WWE with American Football with a football-themed tag team contest that was at very least as credible as an XFL clash.

Wrestlers donned football jerseys and paint, commentary dealt incessantly and almost exclusively in puns and wordplay, the refs were umpires and the canvas was even decked out to look (a bit) like a pitch.

While it was a fun and inoffensive experiment for the time, the concept lacked longevity by its nature, was virtually free of any stakes, and stayed put as a quirky one-off that’s rarely revisited or discussed in modern WWE.

There were more successful NFL overlaps for WWE a few years later though...

9. Empty Arena Match

Poached from Memphis following a well-regarded Terry Funk and Jerry Lawler brawl, the Empty Arena Match was a rare spectacle until 2020 made it an unpleasant norm.

Away from the enforced circumstances brought upon by the pandemic, the violence set to silence was popularised in WWE by The Mankind and The Rock's "Halftime Heat" encounter during the 1999's Superbowl Sunday edition of the C-Show. A critical and commercial success, the pair were hilarious, piercing any potential silliness with punchline promos that leaned into how comical the concept was.

It's a strange match in practice more than a great one - while captivating in small doses, the lack of fan interaction can make the big moments feel lifeless rather than dramatic, and there's little narrative reason to book one beyond particularly extreme circumstances.

8. Parking Lot Brawl

Though not quite as intense as the Iron Circle (though can anything be as intense as a fight between Steve Blackman and Ken Shamrock?), the Parking Lot Brawl remains a setting that allows for gritty, cinematic violence.

Eddie Guerrero and John Cena were two that suited the environment in 2003, because - like the performers themselves - It blended real-world influences with wrestling’s necessary theatricality. Despite the chaotic energy, the concept’s execution often relies on heavy pre-planning, mitigating the anything-can-happen feel a backstage brawl of any kind is supposed to foster. The more WWE shifted to PG, the more the Parking Lot Brawl became a rarity.

7. Hair vs. Hair Match

The Hair vs. Hair Match confirms high stakes with the historic element of humiliation, though it could do with a new example to illustrate it at its peak.

(In)famously used in the "Battle Of The Billionaires" at WrestleMania 23, Bobby Lashley and Umaga were proxies for Donald Trump and Vince McMahon respectively, drawing a record-smashing buyrate for the 'Show Of Shows' in the process. The stipulation thrives on personal vendettas but has fallen out of favour due to its reliance on participants willing to alter their appearance, or for that matter, the removal of societal shame around baldness.

It’s still occasionally revived but is no longer a marquee attraction or guaranteed draw.

6. Beat the Clock Challenge

Not to be confused with one-on-one beat-the-clocks that act as deciders between two challengers, the night-long version of the stipulation made for great television when there were multiple challengers for titles and/or other particular prizes.

The challenge added much-needed urgency to matches as wrestlers competed to win in the shortest time rather than simply getting the victory within the traditional allocated television spot. In recent years, the show-long version has seemingly been shelved - once a creative way to build tension, it’s now used sparingly as a novelty rather than as an episode's entire modus operandi.

5. Championship Scramble

Introduced for Unforgiven 2008 as a format that was complicated by design thanks to the supposed incompetence of then-General Manager Mike Adamle, the Championship Scramble allowed titles to change hands multiple occasions during a timed multi-man match.

That three versions of it took place on one pay-per-view without feeling like overkill was at very least an advert for the longstanding possibilities, but it disappeared from view in the immediate aftermath of the otherwise-indifferent September supercard.

While intriguing on paper, its slightly convoluted format and lack of long-term significance led to its quick retirement. There are fond memories of it as a bold experiment that allowed for novelty scenarios such as temporary WWE Champions and a race-for-falls air of drama that has been borrowed for NXT's Iron Survivor post-2022, but the specific stipulation wasn't one that stuck around long enough to refine its potential.

4. Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match

Though it might sound like the preserve of ECW or FMW, the Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match is something of a collectors item that - until very recently - was almost entirely the work of WWE.

Alas, though the idea took brutality to another level, the practical application was less devastating in execution. JBL and The Big Show's No Way Out WWE Championship match required a creative finish to engineer Bradshaw's escape, but only because the top rim of the cage boasted the barbs. Otherwise, it was a standard mesh offering, and while the inherent danger and departure from WWE’s mainstream style has kept this stipulation out of regular rotation, it's realistically no more dangerous than any other plunder war.

Never was this clearer than during the most prominent 2024 iteration of the stipulation - Adam Copeland was seriously injured wrestling Malakai Black, but only when attempting a splash through the table rather than anything to do with the actual gimmick,

3. Dumpster Match

The Dumpster Match was popularised by The New Age Outlaws, Cactus Jack and Terry Funk after Billy Gunn and The Road Dogg sent the hardcore legends flying off of the Monday Night Raw stage en route to their Tag Team Title match at WrestleMania XIV. A slightly more unique upgrade on the coffin match, the visual was more captivating and the weapon more dangerous.

It being WWE, a clean finish was too much to ask - the babyfaces won the belt using an "illegal" dumpster, forcing a rematch and reset of the status quo the next night. The stipulation has subsequently only been used three more times over the three decades since, including a 2024 roll-out when Michin defeated Chelsea Green on a "Trashville" Tennessee edition of SmackDown.

2. Gulf of Mexico Match

The Gulf of Mexico Match was a quirky 2008 ECW one-off where CM Punk and Chavo Guerrero battled to throw their opponent into the drink.

While memorable for its absurdity, the stipulation’s logistical challenges and lack of practicality have kept it from being revived. The latter half of the 2000s was hardly an era of zero talent protection, but battling out into bodies of open water may not pass risk assessment for the promotion or performers in the 2020s. All that said, there's been times where they've have served as suitable battlegrounds.

Davey Boy Smith tried to drown Shawn Michaels after he'd been chilling with friends in Kuwait in 1996, Bob Holly and Al Snow famously battled into the Mississippi River in 1990 and Akira Tozawa tried in vain to claim the 24/7 Title from R-Truth before ostensibly being eaten by shark on yet another pitiful 2020 edition of Monday Night Raw.

1. Body Slam Match/Challenge

For a contest with lore attached to the very first WrestleMania, the humble but timeless body slam being the deciding move has been rarely been trotted out despite WWE's long-held and well-deserved "Land Of The Giants" reputation.

The move separated Andre The Giant and Big John Studd at the inaugural WrestleMania, and was used to try and get Lex Luger over in 1993 as a Hulk Hogan replacement opposite Yokozuna, but as wrestling moved forward, this blast from the past was forced to stay put. Far from historical footnotes though, both had differing types of pageantry around them. Andre won a bag of cash for his efforts, and was distributing the wealth to the Madison Squre Garden faithfuls before Bobby Heenan ripped the money from his hands. Meanwhile, Luger's USS Intrepid toppling of the then-WWE Champion was one of the highlights of a commercially and creative down-cycle.

Promotion doesn't always trump product, but in both cases, the marketing made the moments.