EVERY Wrestling Gimmick Match Ranked From Worst To Best

From the seminal to the disastrous: what is the BEST wrestling gimmick match, and the dirt worst?

WWE Hell in a Cell 2022 Cody Rhodes Seth Rollins
WWE.com

A quick note on the criteria: this shouldn't be too impenetrable nor daunting a read, and you'll only click through as many slides here as you ordinarily would - but it should be comprehensive.

As such, some stipulation matches will be collected under one banner - Reduced Clothing, for example. Nobody wants an in-depth analysis on the subtle intricacies that separate the Evening Gown and Bra & Panties matches, other than, of course, Jerry Lawler.

Conversely, some stipulations under the same purview should (and will) be reviewed separately. The aim is to catalogue each stipulation in an attempt to determine which types have endured and why, which should be abandoned, tweaked or brought back. It should prove interesting to compare something like the NXT WarGames reboot versus the slightly more traditional AEW Blood & Guts attraction - or whether, for that matter, another promotion exhumed the NWA/WCW centrepiece and did something better with it.

Also, because an exhaustive list would be legitimately impossible to compile, certain unknown or entirely forgotten matches can't be included - and something like the shindie 'Pools of F*ckery' or TNA's 'Hard Ten' won't be here, either. The idea is to spark some debate and provide an in-depth long read on a quiet night, not make you wade through every last bit of wrestling bullsh*t for the sake of retention.

Although, it wouldn't be very fun to ignore some of the more memorably silly matches, so the daftest and maddest will be ranked.

OK, let's go...

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!